Tag: Chris Capuano

Mets 8 – Nationals 4 April 9, 2011

The Mets got their first home win in front of a lot of empty seats at Citi Field tonight. Carlos Beltran put on a show hitting two homers, both right-handed in the game to lead the offense. Beltran has been getting good wood on the ball so it wasn’t a surprise to see him start hitting. But two homers at Citi Field is a feat.

Chris Capuano got his first win as a Met despite the fact that he gave up 4 runs in 6 IP. He gave up 7 hits and a walk but he also had 7 strikeouts. He won’t win too many games with a 6.75 ERA (or keep  his job in the rotation) but it was good enough for a win tonight against the perennial basement dwelling Nationals.

The Mets took the lead for good in the sixth on a two-run triple by Ike Davis to right center. Then Daniel Murphy had a pinch-hit RBI single that scored Davis.

The Mets and Nationals will play the rubber game of the series tomorrow afternoon.

Box score

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Preview: Nationals at Mets April 9, 2011

washington-nationals-logoWashington Nationals (3-4) at New York Mets (3-4)  7:10pm

Tom Gorzelanny (0-0 NA) vs.Chris Capuano (0-0 13.50)

TV: SNY   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: It’s a battle of bottom-of-the-rotation starters today at Citi Field unfortunately for everyone that bought tickets for today’s game. Gorzelanny hasn’t had a start yet this season and neither has Capuano. As a matter of fact, Gorzelanny hasn’t even appeared in a game yet. Capuano has only had one disastrous relief appearance.

The Mets hope to end their three game losing streak today. The Nationals are looking to win their third straight game today.

Mets 9 – Marlins 2 April 3, 2011

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Willie Harr...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Mets put a beat down on Javier Vazquez early in the game today. They put up 7 runs in the first three innings and the game was effectively over. The Mets win the road series which is something we didn’t see much of last year at all. R.A. Dickey got the win although he wasn’t as sharp as we saw him last season. It’s a good start to the season winning this one in Miami.

The Mets offense went off on Vazquez and the subsequent Marlins pitchers with 8  hits and a staggering 9 walks. Willie Harris continued his hot hitting with a home run in the first inning. Ike Davis tacked on another one in the third. It was a true team effort with the Mets getting hits up and down the lineup.

Dickey only gave up 1 unearned run in 6 IP, but he did give up 5 hits and 3 walks. So he had runners on base frequently and was able to get out of jams. Chris Capuano didn’t look good at all relieving Dickey. He gave up 3 hits, a walk, and a run in 0.2 IP. Not a good start to the season for Capuano.

The Mets are off tomorrow and head to Philly on Tuesday. Hopefully, they can another road series win there too.

Box score

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Mets Start 2011 with More Questions than Answers

Carlos Beltran
Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

As the Mets and Marlins get ready to begin the 2011 season tonight, I can’t help but think that the Mets team is going to look very different when this season ends. The financially struggling Wilpons didn’t bring in Sandy Alderson, J.P. Ricciardi, and Paul DePodesta to stand pat like they did all winter. There are going to be moves this season and probably some big ones.

The Infield

Ike Davis looks like he’s on his way to becoming a solid, if not spectacular everyday player. David Wright is the face of the franchise and locked up in a contract until 2012 with an option for 2013. After that, things are much more in question. Is Josh Thole an everyday catcher? Will Jose Reyes sign an extension, get traded, or just play out his contract with the Mets? Are Brad Emaus or Daniel Murphy going to solidify second base?

The Outfield

Angel Pagan looks like a solid center fielder on the rise in his career. Scott Hairston and Willie Harris look like capable fourth and fifth outfielders. The other two-thirds of the outfield are question marks. Does Carlos Beltran have anything left that could justify all (or even a small portion) of his $18.5 million salary for this season? Will Beltran waive his no-trade clause at some point during the season? Will Jason Bay do anything productive for the Mets or is he another big free agent bust? Continue reading “Mets Start 2011 with More Questions than Answers”

Report: Mets’ Johan Santana Out For 2011 Season

Johan Santana won’t be back to pitch in 2011 according to a report in The Record by Steve Popper and Bob Klapisch. The report states that Santana’s throwing sessions haven’t gone well and that the Mets are considering pulling the plug on his rehab and re-evaluating the work that he should be doing at this point.

Originally, Santana was supposed to be doing rehab from his left shoulder surgery last September with an eye towards return in early July. Santana himself even reiterated that timetable in a Feb. 17 radio interview with Mike Francesa of WFAN New York.

The Mets already thin starting rotation is pretty much in shambles without Santana coming back this season. Let’s face it, nobody wants to see Chris Capuano getting 30 starts this year and that’s the painful reality of today’s news.

You never know how a season is going to go for a team before it starts. I think most people are predicting the Mets finishing third or fourth in the NL East. And I believe that’s a fair assessment of the team and the division. Without Santana, the team’s best player and highest paid player not pitching at all in 2011 those predictions could be lowered. It’s going to be a sad state of affairs for this team going through the fourth year of a seven year contract without Santana pitching at all.

In addition, Mets ownership can’t be happy with the prospect of Santana’s $22.5 million salary going up in flames either, considering their financial situation. Presumably, the Mets have insurance for all or a portion of Santana’s salary in case of injury. But given this ownership group, I wouldn’t put it past them to be forced to swallow the whole salary because of a bad insurance policy.

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Mets 2011 Top Prospects

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Jenrry Meji...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I was reading through some posts about the Mets top prospects and thinking about who might make an impact at the Major League level in 2011. Baseball America compiled a solid list of the top ten in the organization back in mid-December:

  1. Jenrry Mejia, rhp
  2. Wilmer Flores, ss
  3. Cesar Puello, of
  4. Matt Harvey, rhp
  5. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, of
  6. Reese Havens, 2b
  7. Lucas Duda, of/1b
  8. Fernando Martinez, of
  9. Aderlin Rodriguez, 3b
  10. Brad Holt, rhp

For Mets fans, these are mostly familiar names. We’ve already seen plenty of Mejia, Duda, and F-Mart with the Mets. Bryan Smith of FanGraphs lists Flores and Harvey as the two “must follow” prospects in the Mets system. Smith doesn’t go as deep as the Baseball America post but he does go into more detail about Flores and the lofty comparisons that have been made to Miguel Cabrera.

As far as impact in the majors this year, I think we’ll see Mejia at some point during the season again. The Mets rotation looks very questionable with Chris Young and Chris Capuano working as reclamation projects. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if one or both went down with an injury for the season. F-Mart could get another shot with the Mets too if he can stay healthy and Carlos Beltran is injured or traded during the season.

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Mets Pitching Report – January 2011

Johan Santana pitching for the New York Mets o...
Image via Wikipedia

With just 6 weeks until Spring Training the Mets biggest worry will, by far, be their pitching staff. With the hope that the Mets can bring on one of the two free agents they are targeting, the pitching staff lines up as follows:

Mike Pelfrey, RA Dickey and Jon Niese, followed by either Chris Young** or Jeff Francis**, then Dillon Gee or Chris Capuano. (**this is assuming the Mets can obtain Young or Francis who are free agents).

In 2010, the Mets had question marks in their entire pitching rotation. The only person that could be counted on was Johan Santana. This year you can add Santana to the list of question marks for this pitching staff making the “ENTIRE” pitching staff a question mark.

Pelfrey, Dickey and Niese combined for 30 wins last year. Somehow this pitching staff will have to find another 45 wins to have a respectable season. Continue reading “Mets Pitching Report – January 2011”