Month: May 2008

On Deck: Saturday May 3, 2008 D-Backs

New York Mets (15-12) at Arizona Diamond Backs (20-9)   3:45pm

Mike Pelfrey (2-1) vs. Brandon Webb (6-0)

TV: Fox   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: Going against Webb is a really tough draw for the Mets. He won the Cy Young Award two years ago, and looks like he’s on his way to doing it again this year. If Carlos Beltran can wake up offensively the Mets will have a much better chance against Webb.

Reyes, Mets Rock First Place D-Backs 7-2

Sorry for the late post but I was too tired to start writing last night. These West coast night games are tough.

John Maine, once again, didn’t have a great game although his velocity was up from his previous starts. You never know if it’s the radar gun in the particular stadium though. The radar gun at Chase Park had Maine throwing his fastball as high as 95-96, which is unusually high for him. But he has had some “dead arm” periods over the last couple of years.

Jose Reyes put on a show offensively going 4 for 5 with 3 runs and a stolen base. He also had an incredible diving stop and throw at shortstop. He was on fire last night. Two of his hits were triples and one was a double. In one triple he was thrown out at home going for an inside the park homer. Reyes is the most exciting player in baseball right now… period!

David Wright looked good at the plate. He was right on the ball last night. He went 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s, including one double. Even Carlos Delgado got in on the act going 2 for 4 with two singles.

It was great to see Moises Alou back in left field. He’s still turning on inside pitches and ripping line drives into the outfield. He adds a huge force in the middle of the lineup.

Box score

Nelson Figueroa Retro Prospect Report

The Hardball Times linked to this interesting retrospective prospect report from John Sickels at the Minor League Ball blog.

It makes for interesting reading to see how Figueroa did in the minors and worked his way up to the majors. I have to agree with Sickels’ assessment that Figueroa doesn’t have the “stuff” that would make him a prototypical prospect for a pitcher. But he does have a fight in him and the ability to work through trouble without wilting under pressure.

Going forward I’d like to see Figueroa take Jorge Sosa’s spot as the swingman on the team. When Matt Wise gets back someone in the bullpen will have to go. In addition, Pedro Martinez should return to the rotation at some point. Aaron Heilman isn’t going anywhere despite his many poor performances in April. Joe Smith may go to the minors but I like what he brings as a righty specialist. My feeling is that Sosa should be the odd man out. The Mets would most likely have to release him but he’s “only” making $2 million this season on a one year contract.