Tag: David Wright

Mets WBC Returns: Wright, Putz, And K-Rod

David WrightThe World Baseball Classic has mercifully come to an end for the United States team at the hands of the Japanese team. The U.S. suffered a 9-4 loss last night at Dodgers Stadium. So we can finally get the whole team together for the Mets spring training.

The Mets are expecting Francisco Rodriguez, David Wright, and J.J. Putz back to the team to resume preparing for the 2009 season. The farce of a tournament is over. We don’t have to suffer through anymore 4-out saves for K-Rod or broken toe nails for David Wright.

Although the players got a few games played in for the tournament, it certainly wasn’t the same as playing five or six games a week in preperation for the season. There were a lot of days off between games as Chipper Jones complained about publicly to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Mets have serious business ahead of them this season. Specifically, they need to redeem themselves for two late season collapses in a row. Playing in a silly exhibition tournament was poorly timed for Mets players that need to get ready for a fast start this year. There’s no room for error.

Jose Reyes To Yankees? A-Rod Wishes

From the LoHud Yankees Blog:

A-Rod: “I wish (Reyes) was leading off on our team or playing on our team. That’s fun to watch.”

It’s funny how the best player is baseball is so socially inept. I love it that A-Rod is a Yankee and never says the right thing. Read the link above as Peter Abraham writes about his friend wishes the Yankees would (or could) trade A-Rod to the Mets for David Wright.

It’s always nice to get a laugh at the Yankees expense. I’m sure Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon feel great that A-Rod wishes that Jose Reyes was playing for the Yankees in their spots in the field and batting order. Great comedy…

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Mets Wright To Play 3B In WBC

New York Met David Wright is set to be the starting third baseman for the US team in the World Baseball Classic next spring. The position was opened up for Wright when Alex Rodriguez decided to play for the Dominican Republic team. The Braves’ Chipper Jones is expected to play but he’ll get most of his time at designated hitter.wbc_logo1

Wright will be playing next to New York Yankee Derek Jeter at shortstop. Wright is expected to be the only Met playing for the US team. Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran are playing for Puerto Rico, Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez are playing for Venezuela, and Jose Reyes is expected to play for the Dominican team.

I wasn’t a big fan of the WBC tournament in 2006. It seemed really contrived to me and quite possibly just another marketing scheme for MLB and the Japanese league. I’m trying to keep an open mind about it though. I used to consider myself a baseball purist, disliking the designated hitter. But I have enjoyed inter-league play, and the wild card is a no-brainer.

This spring I’ll attempt to enjoy the WBC despite my misgivings about it’s nature.

Mets Bullpen Blows Another Game To Braves 7-4

The culprit was Luis Ayala today and Pedro Feliciano threw some gas on the fire in the ninth inning blown save.

The shame of it is that a monster game by David Wright was wasted. Wright was 4 for 5 with 3 RBI’s and 2 home runs.

Oliver Perez wasn’t terribly sharp early on, but he battled through to end up with a pretty good line of 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K.

I know this sounds like a broken record but Carlos Delgado continued mashing again today going 3 for 5.

The story of this game may very well end up being the downfall of the 2008 version of the Mets. Not having a stopper at the back of the bullpen is an extremely difficult problem to overcome. As the last two weeks of the season draw to a close the Mets need someone from the bullpen to prove that they can consistently handle the pressure of the ninth inning.

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Mets Sweep Nats With 13-10 Win

The Mets won ugly with Mike Pelfrey, Aaron Heilman, and Brian Stokes all having off nights on the mound.

David Wright had a monster 4 for 4 game with 3 RBI’s and a homer to power the Mets over the never-say-die Nationals.

The Phillies lost so the Mets extend their NL East lead again to 3.5 games. There are now 17 games left to play. This is the point last season when the Mets began their epic collapse. Enough said.

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Pedro Gets Win as Mets Top Marlins 6-2

The Mets got a good start from Pedro and three home runs off Scott Olsen for the win today. The Mets take the series from the fish and are guaranteed to stay in first place for another day.

Pedro went 6 innings giving up two runs, both in the first inning. He seems to give up so many runs in the first inning that I’m surprised we haven’t heard any talk about changing his warm up routine. It’s tough to start every game that Pedro pitches losing after the first inning.

The bullpen was okay today as we collectively held our breath from the seventh inning on. Brian Stokes did the closing today and gave up two hits in the inning. But he was bailed out by Jose Reyes snaring a sharp line drive to end the game.

Nick Evans got his first big league homer, going back to back with David Wright in the third inning. Wright was on the ball today going 3 for 5.

The Phillies are still playing in Chicago now so the lead is 1.5 games at the time of this post.

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