Author: Dave Doyle

Frequently disappointed Mets fan

On Deck: Sunday April 27, 2008

Atlanta Braves (12-12) at New York Mets (12-11)    1:10pm

John Smoltz (3-1) vs. Nelson Figueroa (1-1)

TV: CW11 Radio: WFAN

What to watch: There’s supposed to be some rain today. We’ll see if they’re able to get the game in or not. What can you say about Smoltz? The guy’s been doing it forever and dominant as a starter and closer. He’s still bringing the heat at 40. Figueroa could position himself pretty well to stay in the rotation when Pedro Martinez gets back. Mike Pelfrey hasn’t looked that great, and one of them will be out of the rotation. Hopefully, the Mets can take the rubber game of the series today.

Mets Use Six Pitchers To Beat Atlanta Braves 4-3

John Maine went five innings and got the win today to go to 2-2 on the season. Five other pitchers from the bullpen combined to hold the Braves down over the last four innings. The only scare was Aaron Heilman giving up two hits and a run in the sixth. Heilman was heartily booed by the crowd of 51,000.

The Mets offense seemed to start waking up today too. Willie Randolph canceled batting practice this morning and told the players they could show up late at 11:30am. He’s pulling out all of the tricks in his book to try to get the Mets back on track. Yesterday he made the team take fielding practice before the game which is a rarity these days.

Reportedly Jeff Wilpon visited Willie in his office before the game. yesterday Maybe Willie is starting to get a little desperate and pushing every button he can think of. If it works, that’s great. If not, it comes across as grabbing at straws.

David Wright and Damion Easley both had two hits in the game. Ryan Church hit a triple off Tim Hudson, and Angel Pagan had a pinch hit triple off reliever Jeff Bennett.

Carlos Delgado took another “O-fer” and heard about it from the crowd in every at-bat. They’ve got to move him down to seventh or eighth in the lineup. He’s got nothing at the plate right now. He’s still hitting sixth on his reputation from a few years ago but it’s hurting the team. Willie needs to come to grips with that.

Box score

Video Highlights

New Reader Poll- Carlos Delgado

There’s been so much talk about what to do with Carlos Delgado. As I’ve talked about here several times, there aren’t any obvious options right now.

I decided to see if The Mets Report readers think that Carlos Delgado will be on the Mets roster for this whole season. Maybe he’ll be traded or released. Maybe he’ll be at first base all season. We’ll have to see how things play out with Omar Minaya’s patience level.

What do you think? Take the poll on the right side of the page.

Chipper Jones Out Today

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Chipper Jones injured his back in the locker room while getting dressed for the game today. He’ll be out of the Atlanta Braves lineup for today’s game.

Jones is a really hot hitter right now, so the Mets caught a break here. Not that I hope for anyone to get hurt. Hopefully, Jones isn’t seriously injured.

Schneider, Alou, and Castro Injuries

Brian Schneider remains at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan receiving treatment for his infected thumb. He’s supposed to be released from the hospital tomorrow morning but it’s unknown when he’ll be ready to play again.

Moises Alou didn’t play in Port St. Lucie last night because he had a sore ankle. I’m sure they’re just being especially cautious with him. Alou may be back with the Mets by Tuesday.

Ramon Castro caught six innings in an extended spring training game yesterday. But there’s no word on exactly when he’ll be back

End For Delgado Looks Near

Carlos Delgado has been demoted in the batting order. Now he’s been benched, at least for one night. It’s become a situation that will happen with greater frequency in the near future. New York’s high-paid former star first baseman sitting on the bench. He’s become the deserving target of boo’s from New York Mets fans both at home and on the road. The Mets fans have been traveling well this season so Carlos gets to hear boo’s wherever he goes.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote a good column today talking about how we know this is going to end soon. It’s likely that the Mets will have to release Delgado before his sub-par play ruins the 2008 season for the rest of the team.

Sherman also introduces an interesting concept, that of Delgado’s contract providing protection for him. The Mets owe him so much money that they have to tolerate more than a year of putrid on-field performance.

I’d like to introduce a concept of my own. The concept that Delgado has made $118, 299,000 in his career before to the 2008 season began. He’s already made more money than he and his family and many future generations of his family will ever need. He’s just not motivated or “hungry” to get back to a high level of play before he made the money. That’s what it comes down to in my mind. If he hadn’t made all that money he’d still be motivated to get his game together to earn a big contract.

Related articles