Tag: Nelson Figueroa

Brewers 4 Mets 2 April 19,2009

Score 4.19.09The Mets blew a quality start by Nelson Figueroa by not hitting, again, with runners in scoring position. They were 2 for 13 in the game and are now hitting .236 as a team with RISP through the first 12 games of the season.

The Mets couldn’t do anything with Carlos Beltran and Gary Sheffield on with no outs in the seventh inning. Fernando Tatis struck out and Omir Santos lined into a double play to end the threat. There’s been some criticism of Jerry Manuel’s decision not to sacrifice the runner’s around with Tatis’ spot in the lineup. But I like having Tatis hit with a runner in scoring position versus a sacrifice. He hit .392 with RISP in 74 at-bats last season so I like those odds.

The Mets win 2 for 3 from the Brewers in the series but their season record drops to 6-6.

Box score

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Game Preview: Brewers at Mets [Game 12] April 19,2009

Milwaukee Brewers logoMilwaukee Brewers (3-8 Road: 1-4) at New York Mets (6-5 Home: 3-2) 1:10 pm

Jeff Suppan (0-2 12.91) vs. Nelson Figueroa (0-0 0.00)

TV: WPIX Radio:  WFAN

What to watch: Suppan has been horrible for the Brewers in his two starts this season. The team was even considering skipping this start to give him some time to figure out what’s going wrong. Figueroa is making the start for the slightly injured Mike Pelfrey today. We may see Fernando Tatis get a start at second base. That could be interesting. Although he appears to be much more comfortable playing the infield than the outfield.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans!

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Mets Add Nelson Figueroa For Start Sunday

NEW YORK - MAY 12: Mike Pelfrey #34 of the Ne...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Mike Pelfrey‘s forearm tendinitis will keep him from making his scheduled start tomorrow. To replace him, the Mets called up Nelson Figueroa from Triple-A Buffalo. Pelfrey says that he could make the start if he had to. But keeping him on the sidelines this early in the season is a smart move.

To make room on the major league roster for Figueroa the Mets designated Darren O’Day for assignment. O’Day was a Rule 5 pickup from the Angels this off-season so if he clears waivers the Mets have to offer him back for $25,000.

In my opinion, Figueroa can do more for the Mets major league roster than O’Day can anyway. He’s more flexible in terms of being able to spot start, long relief, and short relief. I’m hoping they keep Figueroa on the team at least until Tim Redding is healthy.

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Mets Cut Seven Players; Roster Taking Shape

Jose ValentinYesterday the Mets announced that they were releasing Ron Villone. As I wrote when they signed him at the end of February, it hasn’t looked like Villone has had much left for a few years now. His 10.80 ERA in 5 innings of work just solidifed that opinion for me.

Nelson Figueroa, Jose Valentin, Rene Rivera, and Andy Green were reassigned to the minor league camp. Carlos Muniz and Cory Sullivan were optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.

It looks like Jeremy Reed will be the fifth outfielder and Pedro Feliciano will be the only lefty in the bullpen. Bobby Parnell will likely make the major league roster to start the season. Its always nice to see some homegrown talent make it to the majors. But Parnell will need to prove that he belongs on the major league team by getting off to a good start in April.

I still believe that its going to become a problem with only one lefty in the bullpen. If you look at the Phillies’ heavy left-handed hitting lineup, the Mets need to match up against that lineup in the bullpen. If Feliciano is having an off-day, which he is prone to occasionally, the Mets need a backup plan to get lefties out. Will Ohman is still out there as a free agent. He’s rumored to be looking for a 1-year/$2 million deal which is far too much money for the Mets to spend on a reliever at this point. As the season starts, Ohman may reduce his demands as Joe Beimel did just to get back to playing again.

Mets P Tim Redding Injured

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Javascripts/PisV3.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/javascripts/DataV3.ashx?ImageId=729919&PublisherId=1326New York Mets vs Washington Nationals

Tim Redding’s spring training hasn’t started very well. He’s been shelled pretty much every time out so far. And now we have word from Mets GM Omar Minaya that Redding is suffering from “weakness” in his right shoulder. Now some would say that his right arm has always been pretty weak but this time its an actual injury.

Redding will be on the disabled list when opening day rolls around on April 6 and he won’t pitch anymore this spring. Normally, this wouldn’t be very significant for the Mets. But the fifth starter situation has become so dubious over the past three weeks that this does now impact the team.

Remember that the Mets won’t need a fifth starter for the first two or three weeks of the season anyway. So there isn’t an immediate need to sort out the situation. And we also have to remember that we are talking about the fifth starter. We’ve seen some awful pitching from Redding, Freddy Garcia, and decent work from Livan Hernandez this spring.

There are still some alternate options like Brian Stokes and Nelson Figueroa when he gets back from the Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic. So I’m not that worried about this issue now, and I’m certainly not advocating signing Pedro Martinez. I saw enough of him the last three years to know that he just doesn’t have it anymore.

Mets Roster Moves- Castro, Figueroa, Cancel, and Rincon

Catcher Ramon Castro went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained quad today, and the Mets recalled Robinson Cancel from Triple-A New Orleans to replace him on the roster.

The Mets also optioned Argenis Reyes to New Orleans and purchased the contract of Nelson Figueroa. Figgy will likely replace John Maine in the rotation while he’s on the disabled list. Maine may even be lost for the season with bone spur problems in his throwing shoulder.

Figgy did a decent job in his first couple of starts for the Mets early this season. But the competition quickly caught up to him.

The Mets received pitcher Ricardo Rincon back from a loan to Mexico City. He was assigned to New Orleans.