Monthly Archives: May 2007

The Mets have not made an error in nine straight games.

Only the Rockies have committed less errors this season, with 20 compared to the Mets total of 21.

The Mets are 26–9 in games when they do not make an error.

Last night, Paul Lo Duca went 2-for-4 and got his 1,000th career hit with a double in the seventh inning.

By the way, Lo Duca threw out just 24 percent of the runners attemption to steal against him last season.

This season, he has thrown out 44 percent of the runners attempting to steal against him.

…as we know, lo duca has been working very hard to improve his rate of throwing out runners, and the hard work is clearly paying off…good for you, duke…

Meanwhile, Ramon Castro is 0 for 10.

Mets 2B Jose Valentin played in an extended spring training game yesterday, and was 3-for-5 with a walk while also playing a few innings in the field.

Valentin has been on the disabled list with a partial tear in his ACL since April 29.  Earlier this week, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters that Valentin could return by the end of next week.

…my fear with valentin is that the knee will be unstable, which it will be until he has surgery in the off-season…as such, from what i can gather, he may need to play with a brace on, meaning his range will be limited while playing second base…

In his first game back after being suspended for using steroids, Mets RHP Guillermo Mota pitched two scoreless innings.  He allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out two.

…the big thing in media was how we, the fans, at Shea Stadium, would treat mota as he entered the game…according to eye witnesses, a third of the crowd booed, another third have a gold clap, and the rest were more or less silent, like i would have been…

Mota, on fan reaction, while talking to reporters after the game…

“I wanted to go in to the game and see how the fans would react.  I think they reacted very good…it was like half, 50–50, I expected a little bit more [boos], so it’s good…I was a little bit (nervous)…I expected a little more, but they are good fans – it was more like, ‘welcome back.’”

…from what i can gather, mota had a ton of support from his teammates, especially Billy Wagner, who tends to protect his fellow relief pitchers like a Godfather…

…by the way, a few fans e-mailed me wondering why mota could still throw in the 90s if he is no longer using steroids…here’s the thing, steroids has as much to do with recovery time than muscle build-up, especially for a pitcher…for instance, a pitcher on steroids may be able to bounce back and pitch the following night, whereas when not on steroids he may be more sore the next day…oddly, this is why most pitchers take the drug…

Willie Randolph, on Mota’s performance, while talking to reporters after the loss…

“He threw the ball great.  It looked like last year, when he was here.  He had good velocity, he threw some change-ups, and we were able to stretch him out a bit there…It’s a positive thing for us, to add someone like him to our bullpen.  So, it’s good to get him out there and get him going.”

Tom Glavine, on Mota, while talking to reporters after the game…

“I’m happy for him.  He’s been through a tough time, obviously, and he made a mistake and he started to atone for that.  Certainly, if he pitches like he did tonight he’s gonna make us a better team.

“You hope that his troubles are behind him and he’s not gonna make that mistake any more and he’ll be a productive addition to our bullpen from here on out.”

Last season, in 18 appearances for the Mets, Mota was 3–0 with a 1.00 ERA, during which opponents hit .159 against him.

During last night’s loss to the Giants, Tom Glavine allowed three runs and 11 base runners in seven innings pitched.

He has nine quality starts this season, i.e., at least six innings pitched allowing three runs or less.

However, he has lost two straight starts, to John Smoltz and Barry Zito, an remains five wins shy of winning 300 for his career.

…i said last night, it feels like glavine has a case of the pelfreys, in which he is letting up more runs early in the game, after which he settles in and pitches quite well…

Opponents are batting .286 against him during the first three innings of a game, while batting just .214 during the following three innings.

Glavine, on allowed early runs in his last two starts, while talking to reporters after last night’s game…

“There’s not a lot I can do about it.  Maybe if I can get them to hit the ball harder, or right at somebody, but more than anything else I just think it’s a streak if bad luck early in the game.  I’m gonna give up some runs at some time, I’ve just been getting them out of the way early.”

…additionally, a few people e-mailed me wondering if glavine is not getting enough run support, which, by looking at the following, though relative to his fellow starting pitchers on the team, he isn’t, but relative to the rest of the league he is…

Willie Randolph, on Glavine’s start last night, while talking to reporters after the loss…

“I thought he pitched well, actually…outside of the [first inning], I though he pitched pretty well…you know, we didn’t score enough runs for him, obviously.

“They found some holes, but that was early in the game and we felt we could score some runs, but once Zito got in to a groove he was tough.”

The Mets average 5.15 runs per game when Glavine pitches, second worst among the team’s starting pitchers. 

To compare, the Mets have averaged 6.98 runs per start for Jorge Sosa, 6.5 runs for Oliver Perez, 6.46 for John Maine and only 3.79 for Orlando Hernandez, who when he starts the Mets are 4–2.

The Mets (33–18) lost to the Giants (25–26) by the score of 3–0 in Shea Stadium tonight.

For a recap, and boxscore, read the Associated Press.

By the way, MetsBlog Talk Radio will air live, tonight, starting at 10 pm EDT.

You can listen to this week’s show by clicking here.

…tonight, Tom Glavine, like Oliver Perez last night, looked shaky and rushed in the first inning, allowing two runs…after that, like perez, he looked strong…looks like they each have a case of the pelfreys…just kidding, mike…

…man, i’ll tell ya, this team is not making it easy on glavine, who has thrown a quality start in five his last seven outings, yet has just two wins to show for it, keeping him five wins shy of 300 for his career…i wonder if he’s a bit nervous that he may not get there…i mean, he will, but i wonder if it has crossed his mind…

…if you didn’t know of the situation surrounding Barry Bonds, you would have thought Jose Reyes received the loudest boo in the history of baseball for simply misplaying a ground ball in the first inning…

…the steroid cloud aside, it was great to watch bonds against glavine, two future hall of famers, both among the best ever…

…i grew up idolizing Ozzie Smith, despite being a Mets fan, which is a credit to just how great the wizard was on defense…however, after having watched Omar Vizquel for five games this season, i am not sure if he or smith is better at this point…smith was flashy, but vizquel is just so damn smooth…

…i still support Omar Minaya for not making more than a five-year offer to Barry Zito, who looked great tonight, while the Mets never came close to scoring a run, but, man, the kid would have won a lot of games this season if he was pitching for the Mets…frankly, i’m just jealous i do not get to watch him throw that curve-ball for the Mets, instead of against them…that thing is amazing…in the first inning, he threw it twice to Carlos Delgado, who has seen it before, and yet delgado swung and missed at it like he was swatting flies…

…nice job by David Wright, acting as a shortstop while playing the shift against bonds, to turn a double-play from second, as bonds jogged half-assed to first for the second out…

…welcome back, Guillermo Mota, who pitched two scoreless innings tonight, and who was greeted with more boos than cheers…man, those people who booed are such hypocrites…wait, what…oh, guess not…

…give the game ball to the SNY camerman who captured an outstanding shot of a jet flying across the full moon…nice work, buddy…well done…

…weak game, no worries…win tomorrow, and take the series, that’s what it’s all about…

The Game…

The Lineup…

The Pitchers…

The Notes…

How To Catch It…

The Bleachers…

…enjoy…and as always, let’s go mets…

In a column for SI.com, Jon Heyman talks with Mets GM Omar Minaya, and recaps why and how he acquired so many players, who became diamonds in the rough, such as Oliver Perez, John Maine, Endy Chavez, and so on.

Regarding Perez, Heyman writes…

“He looked like a mere throw-in when the Mets desperately acquired Roberto Hernandez at last year’s trade deadline after Sanchez hurt his shoulder in a freak car accident.  But Minaya had been working for weeks to acquire the pitcher who was toting around a 6-plus ERA over a year and half in Pittsburgh. At first no one liked the trade, which sent Xavier Nady to the Pirates. Now Oliver has an army of supporters.”

According to MLB.com, Carlos Beltran is currently the National League’s top vote-getter for the All-Star team.

David Wright, Jose Reyes and Paul LoDuca also lead the race for their respective positions.

Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Chronicle, Ray Ratto writes…

“The Mets have the best record, true, and they might get hosed on the pitching staff because John Maine and Tom Glavine are worthy candidates, but it is difficult to justify Paul Lo Duca, Jose Reyes or David Wright as starters for the perfectly good reason that there are better players at each position. In fact, the shortstop field is so crowded (Jimmy Rollins, Hanley Ramirez, Edgar Renteria) that Reyes might not even make the team without the voters.”

…umm, reyes is widely considered the most exciting player in baseball, and has been discussed on ESPN, among other places, as possibly being the best overall player in the game…yet, ratto doesn’t think he should be on the all-star team, which is pretty funny…in other words, ratto is apparently one of the few people left who know the All-Star voting by fans has less to do with performance and stats and nearly everything to do with name recognition and popularity…in the case of reyes, and Paul Lo Duca it’s both…and people love wright, man, have you seen a television or a video game lately…you may wanna check that out…

…thanks to tom s for the link…

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