Tag: Francisco Rodriguez

Mets’ K-Rod Arrested for Assault at Citi Field

New York Mets relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez blows a kiss to the stands after they beat the Atlanta Braves in their MLB National League baseball game in New York, July 11, 2010. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsFrancisco Rodriguez was arrested after last night’s loss to the Rockies at Citi Field. He was involved in a physical altercation with his father-in-law, who was injured. According to multiple media reports, K-Rod was arrested and being held at Citi Field.

This isn’t the first dust up for K-Rod since he joined the Mets last season. But it is the first time it’s gotten physical. In May, he and bullpen coach Randy Niemann had some sort of disagreement in the bullpen. My take on it was that K-Rod was complaining about having to warm and never enter games and Niemann told him to pipe down.

It’s just another situation making this disappointing season worse and worse. Johan Santana was accused by a woman in Florida of raping her. He wasn’t charged by the police but she’s suing him now in civil court.

The only thing I will say is that sometimes the best players have an edge to them that you don’t always like. The Mets of the ’80’s weren’t choir boys. We all know that. Not that K-Rod has been a great player, but sometimes you have to live with edgy behavior from players.

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Mets’ Francisco Rodriguez- How Does He Stack Up?

A picture of Francisco Rodriguez I took Openin...
Image via Wikipedia

K-Rod blew his fifth save of the season on Sunday in San Francisco.

Quite frankly, he’s lucky to have only five of those.

In his year and a half in New York, the Mets’ closer has earned a reputation of never making anything easy, and rightfully so. He’s always had a knack for putting runners on base, especially early in the inning, and making things difficult for himself by struggling to throw strikes while those runners are on base.

Most recently, he fell in love with his changeup, of which manager Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen said he was throwing much too often. In response, Rodriguez would make his next appearance (Sunday) and throw far too many fastballs, many of which the Giants put in play for base-hits.

I thought it would be interesting to compare K-Rod to the four closers that are currently closing out games for teams in a playoff spot in the National League. Those teams currently in playoff spots are the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds. Continue reading “Mets’ Francisco Rodriguez- How Does He Stack Up?”

Mets Fans: Don’t Blame Jerry Manuel

May 21, 2010 - New York, New York, U.S. - JERRY MANUEL during the Mets vs Yankees at Citi Field in Flushing NY. The Yanks won 2-1.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe axe always falls on the manager. This is the way the world works and it comes with the territory. There are things that we can rightfully question Jerry about. There are, however, things that he has to do, despite what we’d like to see happen. These are some of those unavoidable scenarios we will have to brace for.

1. K-Rod is coming in

Deal with it folks. We are going to win or lose with K-Rod in the 9th. The Mets cannot reach the post season without a closer shutting the door in the last inning. Johan Santana pitched 8 amazing innings and everyone is fed up with him losing victories, but there is nothing Manuel can do. It is up to the Mets bullpen to clinch those wins for Santana and The Mets bats to give him run support. Johan, of all people, is off elbow surgery and is not getting any younger. We cannot expect him to throw complete games every time. K-Rod will also need to work through this mess. The only way to get your stride back is in the game. If Manuel starts displaying a lack of confidence in K-Rod the situation will not magically improve itself. Our bullpen is already a shaky one. The last thing we need is to start meddling around with other closer options.

2. Luis Castillo is going to play

Castillo has become a symbol of the troubles the Mets have faced the last few seasons. He has taken a lot of heat from fans because of his ridiculous contract and of course “the drop” in Yankee Stadium. Although he can be irritating at times, Castillo is our best option at second. He gets on base and knows how to work a pitcher. Manuel may dislike him more than any of us, but like K-Rod, we are stuck with this contract. For as much as young talent excites the fan base, Ruben Tejada has been over matched at the plate. He is simply not ready to hit at the major league level. Castillo’s skill set may be diminishing but he gives us the best chance to win. Continue reading “Mets Fans: Don’t Blame Jerry Manuel”

Mets 2010 Trade Needs – Bullpen

New York Mets relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez reacts in the 10th inning of their MLB National League baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, California July 18, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

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Another big game from our ace who is now 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA in 4 starts this month and if we had a reliable closer he would be 3-0.

Johan Santana has made an awesome comeback, has retaken the team lead in ERA at 2.98 and lead’s the team in K’s with 83. He should also have the team lead in wins but the Mets bullpen and offense have not always been as good.

After yesterday’s game, the Mets biggest pressing need is some bullpen help because our closer could have a 10 win season with 20 blown saves at the rate he’s going and that’s going to cost the Mets a spot at the playoffs.

Unless we find a flaw in K-Rod’s delivery and correct it fast, as Santana has recently done, the Mets really should consider making a trade at the trading deadline for a reliever. Continue reading “Mets 2010 Trade Needs – Bullpen”

Mets 4 – Giants 3 July 18, 2010

July 18, 2010 - San Francisco, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - epa02252957 New York Mets Ike Davis follows through with an RBI double off a pitch by San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Chris Ray during the eighth inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, USA 18 July 2010.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe Mets avoided the sweep in San Francisco with an extra innings win that was marked by some of the worst umpiring work I’ve seen in a long time. Johan Santana was outstanding for his fourth consecutive start going 8 innings and only allowing 1 run. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a win for the great work that he did.

Francisco Rodriguez blew the save in the ninth with a 3-1 lead allowing the Giants to score 2 runs. The Giants were the victims of a blown call at home plate by Phil Cuzzi. Travis Ishikawa was called out on a play at home that would have scored the winning run. He was clearly safe. You didn’t even need a replay to see that. That was just the start of some horrible umpiring in the ninth inning.

The Mets offense was solid with 10 hits and 2 walks in the game. The hero of the game was Ike Davis going 3 for 5 with a long double off the brick wall in right field in the tenth inning to score Jason Bay and win the game. Bay was also 3 for 5 in the game.

The Mets get lucky to escape San Francisco with a win and head to Arizona.

Box score

Johan Santana post-game

Francisco Rodriguez post-game

Jerry Manuel post-game

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Mets 3 – Braves 0 July 11, 2010

New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana throws a pitch to the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of their MLB National League baseball game in New York, July 11, 2010. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsI’m sorry the recap is a little late today. I was at the game and traffic on the Whitestone was terrible on the way home. Construction!!! It was a great day to be at the game with David Daniels and Kerel Cooper.

Johan Santana was in complete shut down mode for the second straight start. He went 7 strong innings giving up 5 hits and 3 walks but no runs. Bobby Parnell and Francisco Rodriguez cleaned up the eighth and ninth without allowing a baserunner. The Mets pitching completely dominated the Braves today.

The Mets offense was working today too. They had 13 hits and 3 walks. As usual, Angel Pagan was doing the heavy lifting going 3 for 5 with 1 run. Ike Davis was 2 for 3 with a monster home run to center in the sixth off Derek Lowe. It was long and to the left of the apple and I heard on the radio it went 440 feet.

The Mets manage to avoid the sweep before the All-Star break.

Box score

Johan Santana post-game

Jerry Manuel post-game

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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”