Category: General

Mets 2010 Midseason Report Card

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Image via Wikipedia

At the halfway point the Mets sit 8 games over .500 and 4 back of the surging Braves. This season has seen a number of surprises and has exceeded expectations (if there were any after last year). Let’s take a look at my report card for the 2010 Mets so far.

Starting Rotation   –   B

If you would have told me in January that the rotation would be a bright spot, I most likely would have called you a liar. Jon Neise has bounced back from injury to solidify the rotation. He has used his newly acquired cutter in better variation with his signature curveball. His 6-3 mark with a 3.61 ERA will continue to improve if he is able to keep the momentum he has said since his return. R.A. Dickey may be the name most synonymous with the 2010 Mets. A former first round fireballer, Dickey has come into his own at an ideal time for the Mets. He has shown an ability to get out of jams, and drive in his own run support. He set a team record winning the most consecutive starts for a pitcher in his first season with The Mets. His 2.77 ERA could be even lower if he didn’t have a small setback in Puerto Rico against the Marlins. Hisanori Takahashi has served valiantly in his time in the rotation. It seems that he runs out of gas around the 6th inning, but remarkable performances against the Yankees have marked his time here. His return to the bullpen, if and when The Mets acquire another starter, will put him back to where he was dominant early in the year. Mike Pelfrey sprinted out of the gate in 2010. He was an early candidate for the All-Star team (Thanks Charlie) and even the Cy Young Award. He has slipped lately but we have seen the flashes that we needed to see. Hopefully, he was just experiencing a little fatigue, and the break is exactly what he needed. Johan Santana has gotten an undeserved beating from the press this year. The media has questioned his status as an ace and continuously posted his dropping velocity as an issue. Santana could easily have 9 or 10 wins, and still retains in ERA under 3. His big issue has been the problems he has had in big games. He was shelled by the Phillies and then again by the Yankees. Nonetheless, his last start against the Braves put a lid on the constant media banter. He threw a complete game shutout and deterred Jerry Manuel from pulling him after Jason Bay dropped a fly ball in the 9th. We all understand he is not throwing as hard as he used to but his body of work should always give him the benefit of the doubt. Continue reading “Mets 2010 Midseason Report Card”

Video: Johan Santana Bullpen Session

On Sunday July 11, I gave up my tradition of getting a free Slurpee on 7/11 day to attend the last Mets game before the All-Star break. What a sacrifice! There was a great pitching match up between Johan Santana and Derrick Lowe, perfect weather and it happened to be Jason Bay Bobble head day. Yes, Bay did not play on his Bobble head day but I can understand getting Bay some rest. The tough part of the season starts on Thursday.

Santana had his 2nd great outing in a row and I was able to get some video of Santana warming up in the bullpen just before the game. He was popping the mitt good. I’m confident he will have a great 2nd half.

After that I suffered through the 30 minute wait on the Shake Shack line. I can’t go to Citifield without getting Shake Shack. It’s a tradition even if it’s only a year old one.

I also got a chance to meetup with Dave Doyle of the MetsReport , who allows me to blog the Mets from here. We discussed the in’s and out’s of blogging as well as the Mets and I also was introduced to Kerel Cooper who blogs the Mets from his site, OnTheBlack.com. Continue reading “Video: Johan Santana Bullpen Session”

Mets 2010 Trade Deadline Needs – Bat Off the Bench

Rusty Staub Bat at Mets Hall of Fame
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

Friday night, as I watched Jesus Feliciano hit a weak dribbler to second baseman Martin Prado with runners on second and third with two outs from my section 401 seat in the promenade, yet another need for the Mets became apparent to me. Some pop off the bench would be really nice for the second half of the season. I feel like a solid bat could prove to be just as important as a new bullpen arm at this point.

Feliciano was pinch hitting for Ruben Tejada in that spot. It was the bottom of the 6th, and Braves starter Tommy Hanson had just been pulled. A big 2-RBI hit there would have put the Mets ahead 4-2 and could have very well changed the complexion of the game at that juncture. In the following inning, a recently called-up, and clearly over-matched Nick Evans was tardy on a Johnny Venters fastball while pinch hitting in the pitcher’s spot to lead off.

Having established Major League hitters available on your bench is an invaluable quality late in games. When Matt Franco or Lenny Harris would get up in the on-deck circle, I was confident that if they saw a pitch to hit, they would put a charge into it. Franco, although absentminded at times (he forgot his glove in the Shea Stadium picnic area after taking a picture with me before a game when I was 12), was a master of the craft of pinch hitting from the left side. It was basically his sole purpose on the team and he excelled. I will always remember his walk-off line drive single against the Yankees in the Subway Series, among other clutch hits. Pinch hitters are under-appreciated assets of baseball clubs, yet upon delivery, they are game changers. Continue reading “Mets 2010 Trade Deadline Needs – Bat Off the Bench”

Billy Wagner May Keep The Mets From The Playoffs

Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Billy Wagner (R) is congratulated by catcher Brian McCann after Wagner's 400th save of his career at their MLB inter-league baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Atlanta, Georgia, June 25, 2010. McCann also hit hit the game winning home run. REUTERS/Tami Chappell (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsOk, this is going to hurt. My theory is as follows:

Billy Wagner, who is currently having a great year, could be in a position to kill the Mets chances at the playoffs.  Here are Wagner’s stats… His ERA is ridiculously low at 1.27, he’s 5-0, 55K’s, 19 saves and 3 blown saves. He’s obviously still throwing heat!

How is our closer doing? K-Rod has a 2.57 ERA, 2-2, 52K’s, 20 saves and 4 blown saves. Not too bad. Most teams would love those numbers from their closer.

Pitching wins championships and Atlanta is proof of that. If you don’t remember those dominate Atlanta pitchers of the 90’s, let me refresh your memory:

A Braves pitcher won the Cy Young Award almost every year during the 90’s:

1991 – Tom Glavine
1993 – Greg Maddox
1994 – Greg Maddox
1995 – Greg Maddox
1996 – John Smoltz
1998 – Tom Glavine

But this time around we don’t have to worry about facing three Cy Young’s in the same rotation. I believe the combination of Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey could match Atlanta’s top two of Tim Hudson and Derek Lowe. The bottom three pitchers of each rotation are also doing very well and these two pitching staffs are pretty evenly matched. Continue reading “Billy Wagner May Keep The Mets From The Playoffs”

Mets 2010 All-Star Lost Bonuses

One of the most interesting things about MLB contracts are the bonus clauses. They’re not allowed to give bonuses for most statistical performance entities. Many bonuses are structured around playing time or award selections. This is particularly true of free agent contracts and some arbitration eligible player contracts. I looked through Cot’s Baseball Contracts to see which Mets lost out on bonuses this year by not being selected to the 2010 All-Star game.

Here’s the list of lost bonuses:

  • Johan Santana – $100,000
  • Carlos Beltran – $100,000
  • Francisco Rodriguez – $100,000
  • Henry Blanco – $50,000

The Mets ended up saving $350,000 in bonus money this year and didn’t have to send the players above on a cross-country trip with the potential of getting hurt. It worked out really well for the Mets that none of their pitchers made the All-Star team. It’s always nice to have your players in the game for the exposure but the risk of a pitcher getting hurt is tough to swallow.

By the way, who would’ve ever thought that Blanco would have an All-Star clause in his contract?  He’s never been an All-Star in his career, so I don’t know where that came from.

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Worst Mets Contracts Ever and Oliver Perez

New York Mets starting pitcher Oliver Perez reacts after being pulled from the game in the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field in New York City on May 9, 2010. UPI/John Angelillo Photo via Newscom

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsIf the Mets weren’t getting renaissance pitching from R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi (can’t believe I’m typing this), this season would not be as exciting as it has been. In the offseason, much of the skepticism about the 2010 Mets was directed at their pitching staff. Would Mike Pelfrey become a solid number two? How would John Maine bounce back from injury? Will Oliver Perez ever live up to his potential and his contract? We now know that only one of those starters has a future in New York.

With that said, where does Oliver’s hefty contract rank among the worst signings in Mets history? Oliver was traded as a throw in from the Pirates in ’06 when Duaner Sanchez, a dominant setup man at the time, went down for the season. After watching Perez pitch game 7 of the NLCS, we all saw the trade as a steal. We received a young lefty with the ability to dominate when he maintained  his control. Losing Xavier Nady’s bat wasn’t easy, but Perez was more than needed come playoff time. From 2007-2008 Ollie was as unpredictable as any starter in Mets history. Nonetheless, The Mets inked him to a 3-year $36 million dollar contract on the second of February 2009. Since that signing, Oliver Perez has been a nightmare. He posted a 3-4 record last year with a 6.82 ERA, and this year he has somehow managed to do worse going 0-3 with his ERA again over 6. If that wasn’t enough, Ollie has refused assignment to Triple-A and ticked off his teammates and manager. The team had no choice but to shed the dead weight by putting Perez on the DL with what could very well be a phantom injury. With the Mets playing so well, it seems like a great time to laugh at some of the signing blunders of years past. With Ike Davis launching homeruns to the Shea Bridge and David Wright raking in RBIs nightly, we are all ready to believe again. So let’s look back at the players who tested our patience and had us launching TV remote controls across the living room. Continue reading “Worst Mets Contracts Ever and Oliver Perez”

Johan Santana Struggles as Twins Fans Watch A Pavano Win

David Daniels CitiField

If ever there was one game I could pick to attend this year based on entertainment value alone, Saturday’s game was the one I wanted to see. Johan Santana against Carl Pavano. Interleague play. So I packed up my bag, hit stubhub and went down the block for a visit. Here’s what I saw…

Old Ace Against Former Team

There were quite a few Minnesota fans wearing Santana’s Jersey from his Twins days. They were there to see their team take on their old Ace. I’m sure all Twins fans are secretly laughing at how this deal turned out, especially after the first inning.

Pavano Comes Back to NY

Pavano had always been my favorite target when bringing up “great” Yankees. Carl Pavano is one huge sore spot for any Yankee fan and I remind Yankee fans of this fact whenever I can. Now my gut feeling was he would turn around and show NY just what they were missing. He will always have something to prove when coming to NY. He did just that with a 3 hit, complete game shutout and also went 2 for 3 at the plate.

There were also plenty of Minnesota fans who were sporting the new “stache” that Pavano has grown a la Keith Hernandez. Continue reading “Johan Santana Struggles as Twins Fans Watch A Pavano Win”