Daily Archives: June 16, 2005
According to WFAN, the Mets have signed Benito Santiago to a minor league contract. He will report to Port St. Lucie to workout at the Mets extended spring training camp…
…this was inevitable…
…i’ll take it…
…it was great to see carlos beltran wait on a pitch, be quick and jack a home run…
…and can someone, i don’t know, maybe rick down, tell jose reyes to stop dropping his hands when he starts his swing…i shouldn’t assume nobody has made this suggestion to young reyes…that is foolish…it’s just frustrating when i, you, whomever, sitting on a sofa can spot a lot of his struggles with the bat…
…best part of the game was the eye-roll willie randolph gave cliff floyd after floyd fouled a ball off of his shin and limped around home plate for five minutes…check that, because what made it so funny was not that willie was rolling his eyes at cliff, but at today’s ‘fancy’ baseball player in general compared to his generation…i love that he left floyd in the game, to hit, then run and then field…and cliff was fine…
…from my point of view, kaz matsui was either spiked by jason kendall on that slide to end of the game, or he pulled something in his knee…we should have some news on that soon, i would think…
…one last thing, is there any doubt that when the bats wake up, as they did today, that the pitching will hide in the corner…take it to the bank…
…it’s always nice to travel off a win…
…nice rebound, gentlemen…good luck in seattle…
The Game…
The Mets (32–33) look to stave off a sweep at the hands of the A’s (27–37) in the last game of a three-game set this afternoon in Oakland…
RHP Kris Benson (4–2, 3.58) starts for the Mets…Benson is 4–1 with a 2.72 ERA in his last six starts…he has not walked a batter in his last 15 innings pitched…against the A’s last season, while pitching for the Pirates, Benson allowed four earned runs in six innings…Benson is 4–for-15 at the plate this season with three RBI…
RHP Ryan Glynn (0–2, 5.73) starts for the A’s…Glynn is 9–18 with a 6.17 in 49 career appearances, including 39 starts…
The Good…
Cliff Floyd has hit safely 14 of his last 17 games…
The Bad…
Victor Diaz is batting just .222 against right-handed pitchers…David Wright is batting just .250 with runners in scoring position…
The Mets are 10–20 when their opponents score first…
The Lineup…
David Wright will bat second today, while Brian Daubach will start at first. Mike Piazza will DH today and Ramon Castro is catching…
Kevin from Missouri asks…
“Just
curious, but why do you think that nobody is talking about Victor’s
effort last night? His last four starts have been very
respectable, going at least six innings and giving up no more than
three runs, with a max of two walks!”…
…you’re right, kevin…all’s quiet on the zambrano front…
Zambrano has pitched four consecutive quality starts, i.e., six innings pitched allowing three runs or less…
Also, he’s thrown 33 scoreless innings over his last 39 innings pitched…
…i’m not sure what else we can expect, actually…
…i
think people are shunning him a bit because they a) can’t believe it,
and b) are to proud to admit we all may have been wrong about him…
…more
than anything, though, to the naked eye, he still looks like a mess on
the mound and a lot of balls are being put into play…it’s not like he’s
blowing people away…
…in other words, i think what we
see him physically doing on the mound compared to what we see in
the boxscore just doesn’t add up…and it’s easier to assume he’s lucky,
right now, than it is to admit we may have been wrong and rick
peterson may have been right…
…i mean, i can’t do it…
…can you…
…with all the talk of the mets lack of offense, i wondered how they compared at each slot in their order…
The
Mets leadoff spot has a .279 on base percentage, which is worst in the
National League, and they’re No. 2 hitters have a .311 on base
percentage, good for thirteenth in the National League…
…surprise, surprise…
Their
No. 3 hitters have posted a .829 OPS, which combines on base percentage
and slugging percentage, which is dead in the middle of the National
League pack. Meanwhile, their clean-up hitters have posted a .862
OPS, which is also in the right in middle of the pack…
…i expected this to be far worse…
From
the fifth spot in the order, the Mets have a .777 OPS, eleventh in the
National League, while their .723 OPS from the sixth slot in the order
is worst in the league…
…so, basically, they stink all around…from all slots…and could afford to improve everywhere…
…i believe that hitting is contagious, though…so, here’s to hoping at least one of these guys snaps out of this slump soon…
Tagged Stats |Jordan Zakarin of FlushingsFuture.com talks with Russ Bove, the Mets’ director of amateur scouting, about the team’s recent draft…
…nice job, jordan…impressive interview…
On the Mets’ top pick, Mike Pelfrey, Bove points out, “You
rarely see college guys throw as many fastball as he does; you usually
see them getting guys out with their breaking balls. He throws about 85
percent fastballs.”
…excellent…this means he’s confident and has command, two things that are nearly impossible to teach…
…settle down, lamar…
Bove
also seems to be excited about both Preston Paramore and Drew Butera,
two catchers selected deep in the draft, as well as with Gregory Cain,
who the scouting director described as, “the kind of guy you want to get into your system because he will do things that will really make you jump out of your seat.”…
…this is a must read if you’re interested in the state of the team’s farm system…good stuff, jordan…
Tagged Minors |Steve Popper of the Bergen Record takes a minute to examine Carlos Beltran, the fan’s reaction to him and the player’s own expectations…
“Maybe they’re expecting me to hit .400,” Popper quotes Beltran as saying. “Right now I know I’m not playing the way I want to play. I’m going through things with my leg. The thing is, it will be my time. When I feel 100 percent, I’m going to do a lot of good things for this team and the city of New York. I have no doubt about that. I really believe that. I believe in myself.”…
…it’s funny, because i don’t think any mets fan thinks this is how beltran will play over the course of his career, we know he’s injured and trying to do his best…and i don’t think those same fans expect him to hit .400, either…
…i do, however, think both beltran’s expectations and the fan’s expectations are the same, to have him not just try his best, which we appreciate it, but to also hit…stats are irrelevant…just hit…drive in runs…in the field, make catches…it’s not complicated…regardless of the paycheck, carlos, if you under-achieve, the boos will match your own disappointment, i can guarantee it…
…my concern is that there is still a whole other half to this season and plenty of ground to be made up…are the mets better served resting beltran on the disabled list now and suffering for it so they can have him at full strength when they need him later…or, is time really that much of the essence that an 70 percent beltran is worth the gamble…
…i don’t know that it is…
…as i’m sure most of you noticed while watching last night’s game…
Miguel Cairo was put on the 15-day disabled list and has been replaced on the roster by AAA Norfolk 1B Brian Daubach…
In 55 games with Norfolk, Daubach was hitting .356 with 11 homers and 42 RBI…
On Daubach, Adam Rubin quotes Norfolk’s hitting coach, Howard Johnson, in today’s Daily News as saying, “Guys his caliber, they get stuck sometimes in Triple-A and they have to do the job, and you hope they get the opportunity to get back to the big leagues and prove themselves again. He’s definitely a guy who can help us in the big leagues.” Regarding Daubach’s defense, Johnson added, “He’s adequate. He’s not a Gold Glover out there, but he can catch the ball when it’s hit to him.”…
…brian daubach is not the answer, but he’s a gritty, aggressive player, who if can contribute anything, may help to motivate the team in the short-term…
…good luck, brian…
The Press & Sun Bulletin’s Scott Lauber caught up with Mets VP Jim Duquette, as the former general manager paid a visit to NYSEG Stadium to check in on the B-Mets…
Amongst other topics, Lauber talks with Duquette about his current roll with the Mets, his future and, of course, the infamous Black Friday…
Most notably Duquette says of the Kazmir-for-Zambrano deal, “What was unfortunate to me was the information we got from Tampa Bay. Quite frankly, they weren’t up front (about Zambrano’s health). There has to be an openness and a candidness between doctors, and they weren’t straightforward with us. That’s been my issue all along.”…
…great read…well done, scott…
“We’re a team that obviously likes to get out and do certain things, move with leadoff speed and be aggressive,” Willie Randolph told reporters prior to last night’s game…
“We’re not getting that kind of momentum going, so we’re going to change it a little bit and see how it feels,” Randolph continued. “It’s not that this is all on Jose. We need to get more men on base. Cammy’s banged up, or I probably would have made this move a lot earlier.”
…having only scored 12 runs in 46 innings is certainly reason to do something…
In his brief career, spanning 521 at-bats, Reyes has hit .267 from the leadoff spot while batting .329 in 164 at-bats batting second…
Jose Reyes added, “No matter where he puts me, I’m going to hit.”…
…oh, yeah…prove it, kid…
Mike Cameron batting leadoff, followed by Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Cliff Floyd and Mike Piazza followed by whomever is playing first base and second base on a given day is their best lineup at this point…
…subsequently, it is the same lineup many of us proposed two weeks ago…
