Daily Archives: August 29, 2007
Prior to tonight’s game, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters that RHP Pedro Martinez will throw a bullpen session in front of the team’s management on Friday in Atlanta.
…the buzz from the team suggests he will make his final minor-league rehab start on Monday…
The Mets (73–59) lost to the Phillies (70–62) by the score of 3 to 2 in Citizen’s Bank Park tonight.
For a recap and boxscore, go to Yahoo! Sports.
…i’m not sure what else Oliver Perez could have done tonight, as he allowed three runs through six innings while striking out 10…because, i’d like to think that the Mets offense is capable of scoring more than two runs in a game, on 10 hits, at Citizen’s Bank Park, yet they weren’t…ugly…
…the Mets left seven runners on base, but it felt like more…
…the thing is, Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo are a combined 2 for 25 in this series, so, knowing that, i’m not surprised that the team isn’t scoring…again, ugly…
…it all came down to the ninth inning, with the Mets down a run, Endy Chavez and third and Marlon Anderson at first, who was was ruled with an interference call as he slide in to second base attempting to break up a double play thus negating the possible tying run…
…marlon argued, Willie Randolph argued, Sandy Alomar argued, all while the Phillies slapped hi-five and celebrated their win…
…it’s not a must win, but tomorrow is as important as any other game this team has played this season…it’s huge…
…a sweep would be heart-breaking, not too mention what it will do for the Phillies…
The Game:
The first-place Mets
(73-58) continue their series with the Phillies (69-62) this evening at Citizens
Bank Park, starting at 7:05 pm EDT.
The Lineup:
For tonight’s lineup and other on-field, pre-game notes, check out John
Delcos and his blog for the Journal News.
The Pitchers:
Oliver Perez (12-8, 3.34 ERA) takes
the hill for the Mets. He gave up three hits in seven scoreless innings against
the Dodgers last Friday. Opponents are hitting .224 against Perez. He has won
six of his last eight starts. Perez last pitched against the Phillies on April 11th.
Jamie Moyer (11-10, 5.16 ERA) will pitch for the Phillies. Moyer
has lost his last two starts, during which he has allowed16 runs and 19 hits in
8.2 innings. He has allowed five earned runs in 13 innings against the Mets
this season.
The Notes:
The Mets bullpen has a 7.20 ERA in the last eight games, during
which opponents are batting .369 against them.
Billy Wagner has not pitched in five days.
For more insight on the Phillies, check out Blogger Beat featuring Jason Weitzel of Beerleaguer.
The
Bleachers:
To chat during the game, head over to The Hot
Foot Bleachers. If you are IRC savvy, log on to irc.echo34.com and
enter channel #metsblog.
…enjoy…and
as always, let’s go mets…
Rick from Brooklyn Heights sent in the following e-mail…
“Why are you not addressing the team’s bullpen? You constantly ignore how stupid it was to trade Heath Bell, Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom. We will not win a World Series with these guys.”
…every team in the league is having bullpen issues…that, plus knowing how October is a total crapshoot, and i believe the Mets can certainly win a World Series with the bullpen they have…that being said, like most teams, it could use a few improvements, to say the least…
…second, i don’t ignore bell, owens and lindstrom, it’s just that i see nothing gained from wishing the trades never happened…fact is, they did happen…neither have panned out for the Mets, but no GM is perfect, and so here we are…also, i try not to assume that simply because a player succeeds outside of new york that he will succeed in new york…it’s like comparing apples and bowling balls…i mean, it’s far from a guarantee that bell, or owens, or lindstron will replicate the exact same numbers here as there…that being said, why bother breaking it down…what’s done is done…
…also, consider the following, regarding the two most coveted relief pitchers at the trade deadline…
Since being traded to the Red Sox, Eric Gagne has a 9.00 ERA in 11 relief appearances.
Since being traded to the Brewers, Scott Linebrink is 1–3 with a blown save and a 4.97 ERA in 13 appearances.
…the point is, this relief pitching situation is far from fantasy baseball…frankly, i’ve given up trying to figure out these guys…i mean, six weeks ago i would have been glad to acquire linebrink, now not so much…then again, he could come from the Brewers to the Mets and be a star…who the hell knows…
Meanwhile, prior to last night’s game, Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters that no legitimate options are available on the waiver-wire trade market, because teams continue to put in claims ahead of him.
For instance, today, the Dodgers claimed A’s RHP Esteban Loaiza off waivers, picking up nearly $8.5 million in guarenteed salary, according to the Associated Press.
…as the best team in the National League, the Mets are are not able to submit a claim until all other teams have had a shot…
…so, basically, the bullpen must be fixed from within…
…the problem, from what i understand, is that because we are so close to September 1, and because the team has a lead in the division, they are not likely to make any sudden demotions or promotions just for the sake of shaking things up…they do not feel their position in the league and the division warrants this type of panic…
…in other words, the Mets do not want to cut a guy like Guillermo Mota, as bad as he’s been, when they can just hold tight and promote a few solutions free of charge in a few days…plus, with guys like Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith and Billy Wagner, and since John Maine and Oliver Perez both could end up pitching from the bullpen come October, mota and a minor-leaguer such as LHP Willie Collazo do not really factor in after September…so, there’s no huge rush to bring him up now…
For more, check out Hot Foot, where Anthony breaks down each of Minaya’s off-season bullpen moves.
This Friday, August 31, MetsBlog.com will host MetsBlog Night at McFadden’s, which is located on 
42nd St. and Second Avenue in New York City.
The bar will feature the Mets game against the Braves in Atlanta, with available audio from SNY’s broadcast, as well as an optional, but recommended $20 drink special, i.e., unlimited domestic drought beer through the game.
Tonight, the Mets will host Mets at the Movies, during which the Mets game against the Phillies will be played on a movie screen in Clearview’s Ziegfeld Theatre.
…the event is sold out, but, from what i can gather, if 
all goes well, the team hopes to host more of these in the future…
…i did not buy tickets, and initially did not intend to go…however, i was invited to attend by the team, who will give me media credentials…
…this is not really a big deal in the sense that it’s a movie night…it’s not like i am being credentialed for a game…however, what’s notable to me, is that for the first time ever, for whatever reason, the team sought me out and is categorizing this site among media, and not as a ‘rogue blogger,’ as MLB likes to put it, which is very interesting to me…one step at a time, i guess…
…at any rate, wish me luck…
Mets Single-A RHP Deolis Guerra is ranked fourth on this week’s Prospects Hot Sheet at Baseball America.
The 18–year-old Guerra is 1–0 with a 2.03 ERA in four starts for St. Lucie this August.
Over the last two weeks, spanning 76 games, Jose Reyes is batting .224 with a .298 OBP, during which he has just three extra-base hits.
…what’s worse, he looks off on defense…in the last two games against the Phillies, he did not back up a throw from catcher to second, he missed a cut off situation, and twice he did not run hard to a costly ground ball, which is all not like jose…
Reyes has played in 130 of this season’s 131 games.
Yesterday, the Braves pitched John Smoltz pitched on three days rest so that he could start against the Mets and Tom Glavine on Sunday in Atlanta.
As of now, the pitching match-ups for this weekend’s series against the Braves is as follows…
On Friday, John Maine will face Tim Hudson.
On Saturday, Chuck James will pitch against either Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber.
On Sunday, Glavine will face Smoltz, again.
The Braves are seven losses back of the Mets for first place in the National League East.
…the buzz in more or less every corner of the Mets universe suggests that either Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber will start Saturday against the Braves…
…from what i understand, the plan for pelfrey is to have him pitch from the bullpen when he joins the team on Saturday, which is why he only tossed 2.2 innings last night as a starter for New 
Orleans…so, if this is accurate, Saturday’s start will likely go to humber, which i am very excited about…
Humber has allowed only one earned run in his last two starts, spanning 14 innings pitched, while striking out 14 and walking just two.
