Tag: Jose Reyes

The 2010 Homegrown New York Mets

Apr. 27, 2010 - Flushing, NY, USA - April 25, 2010: New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, left, has a laugh with rookie teammate Ike Davis before a rain-filled Major League Baseball game vs. visiting Atlanta Braves at Citi Field in Flushing, NY.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsSince the 2010 season started, Mets fans have had a soft spot for many of the players on the New York Mets. I have always wondered why the fans have embraced this team so much. Right now the Mets are three games behind the Atlanta Braves for the National League East.

With those numbers many of the fans wouldn’t embrace the team as much as they do. Yet, this team fights. This team cares. Finally it seems like the Mets players care about their fans.

I wondered why, so I did some research and found out that this team is one of the most homegrown teams the Mets have had in a long time.

Take Saturday afternoon for example. The New York Mets starting four in the infield were all homegrown. Ike Davis at first, Rueben Tejada at second, Jose Reyes at shortstop and David Wright at third are all homegrown. All drafted and played through the minors with the Mets. Even pitcher John Niese was homegrown.

That might not seem like that big of a deal. Yet, the last time that had happened was on September 20,1996 when the Mets had Butch Huskey at first, Tim Bogar at second, Rey Ordonez at short and Edgardo Alfonzo at third. The infamous Paul Wilson pitched that day as well. He was homegrown too. Continue reading “The 2010 Homegrown New York Mets”

Mets 2010 Team MVP- First 50 Games

New York Mets Angel Pagan hits a home run in the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe New York Metropolitans 2010 season is now 50 games old and they have a 25-25 record alongside their name in the standings.

Some Met fans have been disappointed. A .500 record in 50 games just isn’t going to beat the Philadelphia Phillies.

Some Met fans are optimistic. The team has had their struggles and they have some chinks in their armor. Oliver Perez, Mike Jacobs, Gary Matthews Jr, and Jeff Francouer haven’t really turned out like they were supposed to. Injuries to John Maine, Jon Niese, Ryota Igarashi and Carlos Beltran have hurt the Mets this season.

So when looking for a team MVP this season it was really tough to find on. Offensively, the Mets have been struggling. David Wright and Jose Reyes struggled for the first 50 games, although it appears Reyes is climbing out of a slump. Jeff Francouer has struggled as well. Luis Castillo has been banged up and Ike Davis has only played in 36 of those 50 games. Jason Bay got off to a rough start and made a bid for MVP but fell short. Johan Santana has been outstanding, along with Mike Pelfrey but they only play once a week. The bullpen has been good, but again they don’t pitch every day. So I came to a surprising conclusion. Continue reading “Mets 2010 Team MVP- First 50 Games”

Mets Home Stand Review- May 21-27, 2010

New York Mets' Reyes and Pagan celebrate after they beat the Philadelphia Phillies to sweep their MLB National League baseball series in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsConsidering the defending American League and National League champions were visiting, I’d say a 5-1 home stand was reasonable, no?

Friday, May 21st: Yankees 2, Mets 1
Saturday, May, 22nd: Yankees 3, Mets 5
Sunday, May 23rd: Yankees 4, Mets 6
Tuesday, May 25th: Phillies 0, Mets 8
Wednesday, May 26th: Phillies 0, Mets 5
Thursday, May 27th: Phillies 0, Mets 3

Predicted Mets Home Stand: 4-2.

Actual Mets Home Stand: 5-1. This is even better, because as I stated in the review, 4-2 got the Mets back to .500. Now, the Mets sit at 25-23, two games above!

Without a doubt, the absolute best part about this home stand was sweeping the Phillies. And shutting them out in all three games! The Mets won the series by a combined score of 16-0. That’s like the score of a Canada-Afghanistan hockey match.

There were a couple members of the team that were a huge part in this successful home stand. The first is Mike Pelfrey. Big Pelf won both of his starts on this home stand, shutting down the Yankees and Phillies for most of their respective games. The second is Jose Reyes, who had multiple hits in all five games the Mets won on this home stand. That whole “the Mets go as Reyes goes” theory? It’s more than a theory, it’s an utter reality. Continue reading “Mets Home Stand Review- May 21-27, 2010”

Mets 3 – Phillies 0 May 27, 2010

New York Mets starting pitcher Pelfrey throws a pitch to the Philadelphia Phillies in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets finished off the sweep of the Phillies in style with their third consecutive shutout. It’s hard to believe that the Phillies couldn’t even muster up one run in the entire series. The Mets got good pitching again from Mike Pelfrey going 7 strong innings giving up only 3 hits but he did walk 5. He got away with the walks because the defense put up three double plays behind him.

The Mets got 9 hits as a team and 3 of those were from Jose Reyes who is on fire right now. Angel Pagan also had 2 hits and a stolen base (8 on the season). Pagan is hitting .296 and playing so well this season in all phases of the game. His game is really peaking.

The Mets take their five straight wins to Milwaukee for a weekend series to see Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson again.

Box score

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Mets – Phillies Rivalry History

Philadelphia Phillies vs New York Mets at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsGrowing up in the 1990’s it’s amazing to think that the Philadelphia Phillies vs. the New York Mets would take shape into a rivalry. Remember the days when the Phillies had some no name manager named Terry Francona?

They were an afterthought to Mets fans. They had very little fan support in a hideous stadium and their big name players, Scott Rolen and Curt Schilling, loved the city so much that they left town.

From 1994-2000 the Phillies didn’t have a winning season. I remember looking at them on the calendar as any other game, almost comparing them to the Montreal Expos, dare I say. It was the Atlanta Braves that we all worried about.

Even throughout Mets history, the Phillies and Mets never really had a rivalry even though the teams’ ballparks were only 91 miles apart. Continue reading “Mets – Phillies Rivalry History”

Mets 5 – Phillies 0 May 26, 2010

Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets shut out the Phillies again tonight behind the second strong start of Hisanori Takahashi. He went 6 IP giving up only 5 hits and no walks. Granted, the Phillies aren’t doing anything on offense right now. But it’s still a good start for Takahashi. His season ERA is down to 2.13 after tonight.

The Mets made the most of their runners on offense. They only had 7 hits and 4 walks but managed to put up 5 runs. Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan had 2 hits apiece, including Reyes’ first homer of the season. And Pagan and Luis Castillo had 2 stolen bases each. Rod Barajas came through again with 3 RBI’s on a 1 for 3 night with a big double and a sac fly.

You could say the best thing about these two games is shutting out the Phillies, but I think the hot offense of Reyes is the biggest sign of good things to come.

Box score

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Mets 8 – Phillies 0 May 25, 2010

Mets starting pitcher Dickey throws against the Nationals during the first inning of their MLB National League game in Washington

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets won their third straight tonight behind big-time pitching from R.A. Dickey and Raul Valdes. Dickey went 6 shutout innings getting out of trouble several times with the Phillies threatening. Valdes came in and threw 3 shutout relief innings. He’s really shown something this season out of the bullpen. Tonight’s game brought his ERA down to 2.86. You won’t get better than that for a long man in the bullpen.

The offense was really consistent throughout the game. The Mets were scoring single runs until they scored 3 in the eighth. The big story on offense was Jose Reyes, who went 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 2 stolen bases. It was like watching the Reyes of two or three years ago. Also Jeff Francoeur finally came alive going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.

The Mets seem to have stabilized with Oliver Perez and John Maine out of the rotation.

Box score