Why The Mets Can Compete: The Starting Rotation Tweet This Post
Don’t believe everything you hear: The New York Mets can compete for a division title this season.
The starting rotation for the Mets this year looks to be Mike Pelfrey, Jonathan Niese, R.A. Dickey, Chris Young, and Chris Capuano. Those five are better than a lot of people give then credit for, but let’s start with the returning Mets from last year.
Mike Pelfrey
| Year | W | L | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 15 | 9 | .625 | 3.66 | 33 | 204.0 | 213 | 88 | 83 | 12 | 68 | 5 | 113 | 107 | 1.377 | 9.4 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 1.66 |
Mike Pelfrey had a good year last year, and it’s not unreasonable to think he can have a comparable one. He had one really bad month that he’ll need to avoid and work through, and hopefully another year of experience can help him do that. He was one of the best pitchers in the game through April last year, and while he probably won’t be quite _that_ good again, if you balance it against him not being as bad as he was in July, the overall performance can probably be similar to what we see in the table above. I think there is some hope that he can cut down on the walks and hits a little bit and maybe get better, but that remains to be seen.
R. A. Dickey
| Year | Age | W | L | G | GS | CG | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 35 | 11 | 9 | 2.84 | 27 | 26 | 2 | 174.1 | 165 | 62 | 55 | 13 | 42 | 104 | 138 | 1.187 | 8.5 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 5.4 | 2.48 |
R.A. Dickey came out of nowhere last season to have one of the best years in the league. In fact his numbers are better than all of the pitchers on the Phillies sans Halladay, so all the talk of the Phillies having four aces and the Mets having none is a little silly. The biggest question regarding Dickey is if last season was a one time deal. Sandy Alderson doesn’t think so, and he gave Dickey a two year contract to prove it, and I don’t think so either. It’s non unheard of for pitchers that utilize the knuckleball to suddenly find success later in their careers as Dickey has done. Dickey has proven to be a very intelligent pitcher and really understands what’s going on on the mound. He throws two knuckleballs and is able to change speeds with it. His fastball isn’t even completely washed up, so when he does throw one, it reaches the mid 80s in velocity and doesn’t need just trickery to get past the hitter. He was able to sustain success throughout the entire season last year, including multiple appearances against the same teams. Also, his walk rate was surprisingly low for a knucklerballer. Pitching to a 2.84 ERA might be a bit lofty, but he was also victimized by poor run support. Perhaps a more potent offense gets the Mets more wins even if Dickey’s ERA rises slightly.
Jonathan Niese
| Age | W | L | G | CG | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | HBP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 9 | 10 | 4.20 | 30 | 2 | 173.2 | 192 | 97 | 81 | 20 | 62 | 148 | 9 | 93 | 1.463 | 10.0 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 7.7 | 2.39 |
Jonathan Niese is entering his second full season with the Mets, after a surprisingly good rookie year. He hit a wall late in September, something he vows not to do in 2011. He threw two complete games, and had a very nice 7.7 K/9 rate. He really showed good command with his curveball, something you know no opponents are looking forward to facing. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some improvement from Niese as he’s still a young pitcher learning and adjusting. You’d like to see him give up a few less hits and walks overall, while utilizing his pitches to get more strikeouts. He got 148 last year, and with a little improvement through a full season, he’s a guy that could reach 200.
Chris Young
| Year | Tm | W | L | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Seasons | 48 | 34 | 3.80 | 109 | 1.209 | 7.4 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 7.8 | 2.21 | |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Chris Young has been injured a lot, but as you can see from his career line he’s a pretty good pitcher when he’s healthy. The key is making sure he stays healthy, and can give the Mets numbers approximating his career line. All indications out of Spring Training are that he is healthy and pitching well. If that means strengthening the pen so you don’t over-stress Young’s arm, or occasionally giving him extra rest, then the Mets should do it. Young starts to make this rotation look pretty deep, and while he’s not going to overwhelm or blow anybody away, he gets the job done and induces a lot of weak contact. Other options loom the longer we can keep him healthy, even if he doesn’t make it all season. Johan Santana could return, Dillon Gee or another prospect or Buffalo starter could be throwing the ball really well and deserve a promotion.
Chris Capuano
| Year | W | L | IP | Awards | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Seasons | 46 | 52 | 4.35 | 777.2 | 101 | 1.357 | 9.2 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 7.4 | 2.45 |
Chris Capuano is not quite as impressive as Chris Young, but he’s got the benefit of having pitched enough last year to be over the “Is he healthy?” hump. If he does make the rotation I’m happy with his ability to contribute to winning games, and I’d certainly take a healthy Capuano over most of the 5th best starters other teams are using. In 66 innings last year, in the bullpen and the rotation, Capuano’s numbers were right around his career norms. I’m hopeful with those 66 innings under his ‘new’ belt that he can get comfortable and have a quality year. He’s healthy now, and maybe the lack of pitching of the last couple of years will actually mean his arm is fully healed and hasn’t been worn down by season after season of pitching strain. Despite Chris Young probably being a better pitcher, I’m more confident that Capuano can stay on the field all season and win games for the New York Mets.
Injuries and Depth
I’m not going to pretend that the Mets have a ton of depth to replace these guys if things go wrong. Certainly if the Mets rotation misses more than a handful of starts here and there, there could be problems. Pat Misch could be an emergency starter, but he’s league average at best. Maybe Dillon Gee or another minor league prospect can come up and contribute if they’re forced into it, and maybe someone emerges later in the season if someone gets hurt. There will be at least five starters in Buffalo, and presumably someone will warrant promotion at some point.
Then there is Johan Santana. You would have to to think removing Santana from the rotation and adding Chris Capuano would be a net loss of games for the Mets, but it’s never as clear cut as that. Actually, the Mets lost a lot of Santana’s games last year by scoring no runs when he gave up merely one. If the Mets are hitting, couldn’t they win more games than that even if Capuano gives up three? It’s perhaps unrealistic to expect Santana, coming off a anterior capsule tear, to contribute anything this year, but it’s not wrong to hope and wonder if he can return around the All-Star break and get stronger as the season reaches it’s conclusion. All baseball seasons are full of uncertainty and risk, and while it’s certainly a risk that one of the Mets pitchers could injure themselves and hurt the Mets chances, there’s also the possibility that Santana returns and contributes down the stretch.
So as it stands right now, the Mets rotation looks pretty solid from top to bottom and is full of pitchers with talent and ability. They should keep the Mets in the game, and create opportunities for them to win those games with some offense. The diversity of the staff plays into things as well; You’ve got a knuckleball, a curveball, a sinkerball, and two control pitchers. That’s a lot of prep work for opposing lineups to do to try to keep on top of all the different looks they’ll see when they face the Mets.
Tags: 2011, 2011 pitching, capuano, chris capuano, chris young, dickey, jon niese, jonathan niese, Mets, mets 2011 rotation, Mets can win, mets pitching, mets rotation, mets starting rotation, Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets, new york mets pitching, new york mets rotation, niese, nl ease, NL East, nl east division winner, nl east race, pelfrey, r a dickey, ra dickey, who will win the NL east in 2011?, why the mets can compete, why the mets can compete in 2011, young
Could This Be The Mets Final Test? Tweet This Post
Could this be the final test for the Mets?
I hope it’s not, but if they fail it may mean the figurative end to their season. The next two weeks are very critical, and the first order of business is just flat out winning games. The Mets have played very well at home this year, and they’ve got three games against the tough Cardinals, and then three against the not so tough Diamondbacks. There can be no excuses: They have to win games. Omar’s job, provided he still has one, is to bring in reinforcements after that. The trading deadline is next weekend, and the Mets are in need of some help. No longer can they play waiting games or decide they don’t like the price. When you drop as many games in the standings as the Mets did, you no longer have the luxury of pretending you’re not desperate for help.
After the Diamondbacks the Mets again head on the road. It’s this road trip that could prove to be critical, as they face the Braves and the Phillies. The Braves have been amazing lately, and the Mets have been making just about every other ballpark look to them like Turner Field did around the turn of the century. By falling so far back, it’s become imperative that they make up ground by beating the competition in front of them. Losing and falling further behind could very well be a death blow.
The Mets have been extremely streaky this year and they really are much better than they’ve shown lately. If they take that streak and turn it into a hot stretch where they’re again a team that’s tough to beat, they could climb right back into this race. There is still a lot of baseball to be played and August could be a good month for them. After they play the division rivals on the road, they come home for the Rockies and the Phillies before going on a road trip that one would describe similarly to the Cleveland-Baltimore trip they took that they were successful on: they play the Astros and the Pirates. Another home stretch with the Marlins and the Astros provides plenty of time to fight their way back into this race before facing the Braves again at the end of the month.
Can the Mets ace this next test and fight their way back into relevancy again? I don’t know. Neither answer would surprise me, but I’m certain they’re capable of it. They often say you need to get hot at the right time and if the Mets can capitalize on that by beating up on the division rivals, as the Phillies did in 2007, they can certainly win this division.
Tags: Atlanta Braves, Baseball, division, getting hot, homestand, Mets, mets cardinals, mets test, New York Mets, NL East, offense, Omar Minaya, Philadelphia Phillies, reinforcements, road trip, season, test, winning streak
Mets vs. Braves: Important, but not THAT Important Tweet This Post
Huge three game series for the Mets coming up here, but most of it’s about perception and confidence. No three games in July ever decide anything, but winning and losing this series is the difference between being within striking distance of the division lead going into the break, and being clearly the second-best team.
If the Mets win this series they will be respected throughout the league as contenders. They’ll be brought up in all trade talks for big acquisitions. When analysts adjust their season predictions, the Mets will make it onto a lot of their lists. David Wright will again be recognized as one of the best players in the game, people will stop taking as many pot shots at the Mets, their minor league system, their medical staff and their decision making.
If they lose and fall four or more games back from the division lead things won’t be as rosy during the break. Analysts will find a way to justify their decision in the winter that the Mets have too many holes to make the playoffs. They’ll talk up Bobby Cox, they’ll talk about the Phillies having a good second half. Jose Reyes will be described as injury prone. Carlos Beltran will be portrayed as an 80 year old grandma that can’t walk, much less play CF. They’ll question Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya and their ability to do their job.
All off the results of one series. If a sweep happens either way, the reactions will be even more extreme.
The series is really not that big a deal. It’s an important series to try to win and not let the Braves get too far ahead, but even if they’re four games out going into the break, that’s hardly insurmountable given how many games they still play against each other. Still, it’s a chance for the Mets to put the first half to rest on a positive note, take a deep breath, and soar into the second half with the addition of Carlos Beltran.
If you’re headed out to Citi Field for any of these games, the Mets are having a fan appreciation weekend. They’re doing a lot of seat upgrades, signed giveaways, and handing out gift cards. On Sunday 25 lucky fans will receive game-worn jerseys. Enjoy!
Tags: All-Star break, Atlanta Braves, Baseball, braves, break, Carlos Beltran, championship team, David Wright, first half, Jose Reyes, lebron james, Mets, New York Mets, NL East, second half
These Mets Are Scary Tweet This Post
Mets Win
This Mets team can be pretty scary. I certainly thought they had a chance to be very competitive coming into this year, but it would’ve been hard for anyone to predict it would evolve the way it did. The team may be the team you’d least want to face in the National League, because you never know what you’re going to get from them, they can hit you from all angles. People talk about Philadelphia’s offense being scary, but when you get down to it the Phillies are a team built on offense; if you pitch well against them you can win any of the games.
The Mets can baffle a team’s offense on any day. It could happen via R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball dancing towards the plate, or it could happen with Pelfrey’s dominate sinking fastball. The next day Jon Niese could unleash his curveball, or Johan Santana could be on the mound with his two Cy Young awards. The bullpen has also been very good, regularly racking up scoreless innings. They’ve got some hard throwers, some specialists, and Frankie Rodriguez.
Offensively the Mets have the talent to beat a team in a couple of ways. They’re capable of hitting big home runs one day, and the next day battering pitching to a tune of 14 runs without a long ball. They’re aggressive, steal bases, take extra bases on base hits, capitalize on errors and play hard. They’re capable of coming back from deficits, don’t quit until the game is over, and even if a starting pitcher is shutting them down, they’re capable of waking up against a reliever and winning a game.
They seem to have the right mixture of confidence and cockiness, and all reports suggest they have great clubhouse chemistry. (Winning will do that) Even if they don’t make a trade, it looks like they’ll be getting Carlos Beltran back to the lineup which would be about as big a mid-season acquisition as you can find. They’re already in prime playoff position, and they’ve got plenty of guys looking to have a better second half including Johan Santana, Jason Bay, Luis Castillo, and Jose Reyes. This is a team to look out for, and it’s looking like the final series before the All-Star break against the Braves is going to be a big one.
Tags: Baseball, bullpen, good teams, great teams, Home Runs, Johan Santana, jon niese, Mets, mets are scary, Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets, NL East, offense, phillies suck, Pitching, r a dickey, scary mets, starting pitching, winning, winning baseball
Visiting Camden Yards to Help the Mets on the Road Tweet This Post
I’ve been to a lot of Major League Baseball parks. Obviously I’ve been to Citi Field and Shea Stadium as well as the two most recent Yankee Stadiums. I’ve been to Fenway (Hideo Nomo one hit the Blue Jays, which I’d forgotten when I was leaving the Niese game the other day trying to think of the other one-hitters I’d seen), RFK Stadium (The final two games there ever, they were playing the Phillies in late 2007 so I even had a heavy rooting interest), Dolphin Stadium as it was known by that month, Wrigley Field, I was in St. Louis during the demolotion of the last Busch Stadium, Coors Field, Petco Park, Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Oakland Colliseum and the Giant’s Park, which I think was named SBC Park at the time, but I didn’t see the Mets play at any of them.
Reyes Ready to Play
The only time I’ve seen the Mets play on the road (I’m ignoring Yankee Stadium, because it doesn’t really count as ‘away’) was a day-night doubleheader in early 2007 in Citizen’s Bank Park. It was a fun day and was before the rivalry. Phillies fans had no hope for the season and were reveling in 10000 losses and just hoping not to get destroyed by the defending NL East champs. This weekend I will add one more road Mets game to my credit, against the Orioles in Camden Yards on Sunday. It’s supposed to be a great park, it’s a Pelfrey start, and the Mets have won six of seven games I’ve seen this year.
Niese Dominates
One thing that’s always odd about watching the Mets on the road is the batting first thing. All of a sudden the game has started and there is Reyes ready to go. Usually we have three outs to get settled. The scoreboard never prompts us to cheer “Lets Go Mets”, even though there will be a very good representation of Mets fans at these games. Mr. Met is nowhere to be found, and they never play Lazy Mary after Take Me Out To The Ballgame.
I had the Goose Island Seasonal, even if the bartender didn't know what type it was
Nonetheless, I’m excited. I have a good feeling that they’ll finally have a winning road trip, and they’ve gotten off to a good start winning the first game. I’ll also be in attendance at Yankee Stadium to end the trip, hoping it’ll be a nice capper on a road trip that finally erases the 2009 bad feelings and has the Mets in first place to start the summer.
Tags: away team, baltimore orioles, Baseball, baseball parks, camden yards, Jose Reyes, major league baseball stadiums, Mets, mets road game, mets road trip, New York Mets, NL East, orioles park, orioles park at camden yards, road trip
Can Jesus Cure the Mets Road Woes? Tweet This Post
Well, like any major league team, it’s really both. The Mets are capable of being the poorly run team on the road that lets little things beat them like making one bad pitch, failing to get a runner in from third, poor fielding, or the wrong pitching change. They’re also capable of being the dominating team that you see when they play at Citi Field. The team that laces doubles and triples into the gaps, that pitches out of jams and makes the opposing team struggling with runners in scoring positions, the team that comes back from deficits and is never out of a game.
It’s not just that the Mets get lucky when they’re at home. They really are capable of being a dominating, scary team. Despite their poor play they’re hanging in this division and with a weak road trip coming up, they have a chance at reversing their fortunes. First they have a revenge series against the Padres, with both Pelfrey and Santana pitching. (I’m aware they had both pitching in San Diego as well) If they can win this series, they’d be 32 and 28, four games over .500 with a nine game road trip coming up.
The Mets roster has gotten quite a shakeup over the last couple of days. Niese returns and Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, and Gary Matthew Junior either went on the DL or were released. Jesus Feliciano and Ruben Tejada have joined the team. Both are rookies, Feliciano finally getting the call-up at 31 years of age after an excellent start to the season where he’s batting almost .400 in Buffalo. He had a good season last year and played well in the World Baseball Classic for Puerto Rico. I actually saw him play in the first game against the USA in which he helped them win in mercy rule fashion. He’s received a lot of praise from his Buffalo team and from Alex Cora as a guy that can hit the ball and knows how to win. I don’t know if the “knows how to win” argument is really worth anything, but it won’t be hard to bring more value than Gary Matthews Jr did. It’s yet unknown what type of player Tejada will be, and definitely unknown if he can get on base at the rate that Castillo normally does, but so far he’s played well and he’s young and exciting and his presence means the Mets have a fully home-grown infield for the time being. Not a bad deal for a team that’s supposedly bad at the draft.
Jesus Feliciano (#23) joins his Puerto Rican teammates (Beltran, Delgado, Cora, Pedro Feliciano) in celebrating the mercy rule win over the USA. Feliciano went 6/16 during the WBC.So with some of the regulars rounding into mid-season form and some new fresh faces, I expect them to play better on the next road trip and return home in first place. Six of those games are against really bad American League teams in the Indians and Orioles. The three games at the end of it against the Yankees may be a little tougher, but they’ve already beaten them once.
It’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks. The Mets have invited me to Citi Field on Wednesday, I’m considering traveling the Baltimore for the Saturday game against the Mets, and I’ll be at the finale of the road trip against the Yankees, likely seeing Santana again. By the time that road trip finishes the Mets will hopefully have put the road woes behind them, are at or near first place, and we’ll even know more about if and when Beltran is coming to rejoin the team. I’m really looking forward to the next 12 games.
Tags: Baseball, best team at home, Citi Field, division, dominating baseball, jesus feliciano, Mets, new faces, New York Mets, NL East, road trips, road woes, roster moves, ruben tejada, world baseball classic
Time for a Mental Break Tweet This Post
I need a mental break from the Mets. They’re tiring. There are too many subtle questions: What is Warthen doing with Perez and Maine and why has the bullpen fallen apart? Why did Frankie Rodriguez choose that pitch to throw on 0-2 to Eckstein? Is Manuel capable of managing this team correctly? Will David Wright stop striking out? Will any of the players hit with any consistency or even approach career type years? Will Omar get another starting pitcher, and will he fix the bench?
After watching K-Rod blow it, and then Manuel leave in Valdes to face five batters and only retire the one that was a bunt and give up the grand slam to the only legitimately scary batter in the lineup has worn me out. While I certainly believe this team is capable of adjusting and getting better and performing and even winning, right now I’m just worn down mentally. This happens to me once or twice a season, and I’m going to take the weekend to just relax and not watch the Mets. I hate watching the Marlins anyway, as I feel they are an embarrassment to the sport with the way they run the franchise.
Logically, the Mets should have an axe to grind with the Marlins after getting swept by them a couple of weeks ago and they’re playing at home where they actually win. Then they face the Padres, who they also should want to pummel a bit, and they’ll have Santana and Pelfrey in that series again. So really they should do well in the upcoming games, and then they go face two of the worst teams in the American League in Cleveland and Baltimore. Couple this with some roster moves that Omar, Manuel, and Perez need to make and maybe things will be looking up for the Mets soon, but for now I need a mentally refreshing weekend.
Tags: Baseball, fire manuel, home stand, jerry manuel, mental break, Mets, mets road record, New York Mets, NL East, Omar Minaya, road record, tired, winning teams, worn down
Simple Changes Omar Minaya Needs to Make to the Mets Tweet This Post
The Mets are a good team. They’ve got a lot of good players, lots of character, and have a real chance at going far this season. However, they could be better. There are some very simple things Omar Minaya can do that will make the Mets a better team.
Fixing Oliver Perez is one of the most popular discussions these days. This one obviously isn’t as black and white. Where has his velocity gone for instance? Oliver Perez, unlike most pitchers, is a guy that need some guidance and oversight. Manuel and Warthen seem to be two of the worst guys to provide this, choosing instead to give up on him rather then try to help. Maybe they don’t know what to do, which would actually be worse. Regardless, Oliver Perez has the talent to be a good pitcher. Someone needs to grow a brain and figure out how to proceed in this regard. There have been signs, even this year, that he can be very solid..
Replace Frank Catalanotto on the roster. Even though his failure is over a very small sample size, his upside isn’t exactly that of a superb pinch hitter. Failure is still failure, and there are dozens of decent replacements to his position on the roster. Right now he almost never plays the field anyway, so you don’t even need an awesome defender to replace him. Nick Evans, Chris Carter, Mike Hessman all seem like suitable replacements.
Gary Matthews Junior. He’s had more at bats than Frank, and has gotten more than a fair chances worth of starts to prove that he can be worthwhile. He’s failed at just about every opportunity. It’s a shame Manuel ever chose to start him over Pagan, who’s hit right around .300 for his Mets career. The major reason cited for keeping him is that he can play center field. (Besides the somewhat undefinable ‘experience’ factor that Manuel always throws out there) Pagan is just fine, so do we really need to have a legitimate center fielder to back him up? If so, you’ve got guys like Jason Pridie and Jesus Feliciano in the minors. If not, then just go with Pagan full time and on the rare day he gets a day off, both Frenchy and Bay know what to do in center field for one game, even if it’s not ideal defensively. This opens up the possibility to any corner outfielder as a backup.
Jenrry Mejia. I’ve been semi-supportive of the idea to keep him up in the majors if he can help the team win. However, he’s struggled at times and it only seems to be hurting his development of his other pitches. The bullpen has been pretty good, and since starting pitchers are so much more valuable, it’s time to send Mejia back down to the minors to work on being that starting pitcher.
Fernando Tatis is another player that doesn’t seem to have much value. His best value is his ability to play multiple positions adequately, but the Mets aren’t in any great need in that regard. Bay and Francoeur play basically all the time, as does David Wright. Cora’s got 2B. Ike Davis could probably do with a day or two off occasionally if he hits an extended rough patch, but the Mets have plenty of adequate 1B guys that can fill Tatis’ role better than him. When Daniel Murphy is fully healed I think he’d be a much better guy to play the role. He’s younger, has much power, and is a better defender. He’s got no real spot to play on this team, and right now doesn’t have a ton of value. If he could be a super-utility guy on this team, the Mets could probably get something of value for him in the off season. No one else even wanted Tatis last off season, so he basically has zero value on or off this team.
Fire Jerry Manuel, Dan Warthen, and Howard Johnson. It’s hard for fans, especially on the outside, to evaluate what role these types of guys have. It’s pretty obvious Manuel does not know how to handle a baseball team, from wearing out bullpens, to giving up outs while down runs late in games, to playing guys out of position. He seems to undermine his players to the media, and always seems to show no faith or confidence in his players that need it, excepting washed up veterans who he plays way too much for some reason. It’s not an easy situation replacing a manager and finding a suitable replacement. They screwed it up last time they went through this, and they’re still paying for it, but it’s something that could definitely help this team.
Dan Warthen and Howard Johnson may be easier. They each seem to have had some marginal success with some players, but for the most part the bullpen and starters have underperformed under Warthen, and excepting Pagan and Francoeur, no player has really hit their career numbers or better with Johnson. It may be time for a fresh perspective on all this, and there is no time like the present.
Not all of these need to be done. There are different solutions to the problems I’ve presented, and some of the problems might not be as dire as they seem to me. However, all good teams make adjustments to the roster, and the Mets have reached the point where it’s time to cull some dead weight, and give some new guys a chance. Hopefully Omar is already discussing which moves he should make for the upcoming games.
Tags: Baseball, division, fernando tatis, fire jerry, fire jerry manuel, fire manuel, frank catalanotto, gary matthews jr, Good Team, jenrry mejia, jerry manuel, Mets, New York Mets, NL East, Oliver Perez, Omar Minaya, roster changes, roster shake up
First Place Mets Play For Respect Tweet This Post
This series against the Phillies, while not that huge a deal in the overall season, is a pretty big deal for the Mets. The Mets have been disrespected and dismissed by much of baseball, and yet they stand in first place.
Most feel the Phillies are the “better team”, but this series is the first opportunity to show that the Mets can hang with them. It goes a long way towards instilling confidence in the players if they could go out and beat Philly this weekend. It will remind Philly, even though it’s still early, that the Mets are not just going to go quietly into the night this year. It will remind fans that the Mets are a serious fun team to watch and will be in the conversation all season. It will remind the national media, as the weekend games are both on National, or semi-National, tv, that there is another team in New York that’s going to be talked about this summer.
Win these games and fans will start coming back to Citi Field. People will feel good about the team. It would go a long way towards erasing some of the feeling of 2009 and hard luck. It will extinguish any real assertion that the Mets are at best a wild card team. The Phillies are not a powerhouse. Their pitching is suspect outside of Halladay and one pitcher does not make a team. Playing this team hard and gaining a little swagger about themselves is the first step towards what can be a championship season for the New York Mets.
Tags: championship, Citi Field, espn, First Place, fox, Mets, mets phillies, mets v phillies, national media, New York Mets, NL East, Philadelphia Phillies, phillies suck, rivalry
The New York Mets Are Not A Wild Card Team Tweet This Post
Two words that have no place in Mets discussions: “Wild Card”
I’ve heard it a bunch of places, even Ron Darlings. The Wild Card is not a term that needs to be mentioned right now, about a team that’s in first place with 18 games still to play against the biggest challenging team. The Wild Card need not be mentioned until August at the earliest. The Wild Card should never be the goal.
The division is not out of the question for the Mets. There is no doubt in my mind that the Phillies will not run away with anything. They are a team that won 93 games last year, and the Mets are at the very least 10 games better, and the Nationals are better. The Phillies play almost 25% of their games against those two teams, so it’s likely that the increased talent would shave a couple of games off the Phillies win total. The Phillies have a couple of guys injured, and aren’t all that improved over last year anyway. They had guys have career years last year, and career years often don’t get repeated. They’re even picking up guys off our scrap heap, which doesn’t say a lot for their pitching or infield depth. The Mets were criticized for having no depth and having to go with Wilson Valdez and Nelson Figueroa last year, yet the Phillies are doing the very same thing this year.
Anything can happen in a baseball season. Nothing is decided in the offseason, or in April. However, it’s going into May soon and the Mets are standing in first place. I said earlier last week that the goal I would like of the Mets is to get through this home stand with a chance to play the Phillies for first place this coming weekend. After some excellent baseball games it’s looking like it could be the Mets playing the Phillies to help lengthen their division lead.
Ron Darling had a great comment during a replay of David Wright’s bases clearing triple. As he was rounding second, Ron said “And right around here is where the monkey jumped off his back.” It’s a good start along those lines, and if the Mets could beat the Phillies, play the Reds and return home solidly in first place it’d go a long way towards erasing 2009. A lot has been made of the attendance figures at Citi Field so far, but I think a lot more of us would start making the trip to the stadium if they returned home conquering heroes and reclaiming their rightful place atop the National League East.
Tags: attendance, Citi Field, east division, First Place, Mets, New York Mets, NL East, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies, phillies suck, ron darling, Wild Card