Daily Archives: September 10, 2007
According to MLB.com, Orlando Hernandez will start tomorrow against the Braves.
In his most recent Under the Knife column for Baseball 
Prospectus, Will Carroll writes that from this point forward the Mets will go with a six-man rotation.
…also, if you are the guy who still watches the NBA, and you also like math, know that BP will soon launch Basketball Prospectus…
…Update…1:20 pm…
…upon further review, Basketball Prospectus will be about NCAA, not the NBA, which makes much more sense…
Tagged Orlando Hernandez |Mets C Ramon Castro was 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored for the Brooklyn Cyclones this weekend.
Castro has suffered from an arthritic lower back since August.
…from what i can gather, castro is okay…the question is, will the back flair up tomorrow, or the next day, etc…the Mets do not trust it…so, he needs to keep playing in minor-league games, so the team can evaluate how his back will respond…at that point, the team will decide whether he should re-join them…
…you know, while i’d miss castro’s bat off the bench in October, and given how well the overall bench is hitting at this point right now, i think i’d actually rather Sandy Alomar Jr. on the post-season roster for his defense…
Tagged Ramon Castro |According to multiple reports, Pedro Martinez’s personal trainer, Chris Correnti, has been hired as a consultant by the Mets through the end of the season.
…i assume this is so he can be with the team, and continue to work with pedro through the rest of the season…
…if you recall, pedro was sure to thank correnti in nearly all of his post-game comments last week…
Tagged Pedro Martinez |
Daivd Wright got the day off yesterday, with Ruben Gotay starting at third place. Wright, as quoted by the Daily News…
“He wanted me to finish strong and take (yesterday) off. It’s his decision, he knows better than anybody, being around the game so long. He knows it’s getting late in the season. The next one will be hopefully after we clinch.”
…jeeez, ‘after we clinch.’…thank god i’m not superstitious…
…you know, i have more and more about this ‘pacing yourself’ than in any other season…it’s strange…it must mean wright and Jose Reyes have truly arrived…or, it means, finally, the Mets have developed a young player and kept him long enough for me to hear it…basically, the idea is, young players tend to just play pedal-to-the-metal baseball every day, every pitch, and that the mental and physical fight of a long season just slowly wears them down to the point that they struggle late in the year…veterans, on the other hand, know how to manage their body, take time off and pace their efforts, so to remain consistent and strong through the long season…
After the game, the following players talked to reporters about Pedro Martinez, saying…
Willie Randolph, on the overall start…
“He did a great job for us today…
“It’s amazing how he can just toy with hitters when he wants to. he got near his pitch count there, and it’s like he just started throwing sinkers and letting them hit the ball and got through a couple of quick, quick hitters there. He senses the moments and knows what he needs to do out there and he’s great at making pitches…
“He marvels you, he really does. He’s a pitcher. I’ve known him as a power pitcher over the years, and obviously he’s not that type of pitcher anymore, but he’s still very effective, knows how to hit his spots, use all his pitches. That’s one thing people don’t realize about Pedro is that he’s got four excellent pitches and when they’re working he’s really tough…because he knows how to manage his way through a game and he’ll beat you. He’s a competitor. Awesome job…He always wants to win, and always beat you.”
Tom Glavine, on Pedro the Pitcher…
“He knows how to pitch, he knows what he’s doing. if he’s got a fastball that’s 88– to-91 mph with his other stuff that’s gonna be plenty good enough, because he knows how to change speeds and he knows how to locate.”
Paul Lo Duca, on the curtain call…
Tagged Paul Lo Duca, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Willie Randolph |“It was awesome. It was a neat feeling for Pedro. I know he told me he had some goosebumps too, so.”
Moises Alou has hit safely in 30 of his last 33 games.
In seven games in September, he is batting .462 with two HR, four RBI and four doubles.
Alou, on his hot streak, while talking to reporters after yesterday’s win over the Astros…
“I’m feeling great at the plate. I mean, I love the feeling that I get when I go up there right now – even if I make an out – because even if he makes a mistake I knew what I did wrong…Hopefully I can ride this through the end of the season…
“I was hot like this in 2004, when I was with the Cubs, but we didn’t get to the playoffs. Hopefully, it’s gonna be a different story here…Last year I was hot in September too, but this year we’re gonna go to the playoffs, so hopefully it carries on to the playoffs.”
…man, there is an awful lot of talk about the playoffs lately, from me to the media to so many fans to the players…i don’t know if that’s good or bad…hell, even Mets.com is saying, ‘Your Post-Season Has Come,’ already, right now, as they promote post-season ticket sales…
…anyway…
…i know some fans dislike when the Mets add veterans instead of younger, less-experienced players…however, one of the benefits to acquiring certain veterans is being able to watch a guy like alou, or Luis Castillo, or Pedro Martinez, or even Jeff Conine, day in and day out, getting to see just how good these guys actually are…i mean, i know their stats, and had seen them on occasion in the past, but to watch them every day, and truly get to appreciate the talent is actually kind of nice…of course, getting to watch Lastings Milledge, or Mike Pelfrey, David Wright, etc, is equally fun, as well…it’s all about the balance, i guess…
Tagged Moises Alou |Since finishing August with five losses in six games, the Mets are now 7–1 in September. Willie Randolph, talking to reporters after yesterday’s win…
“This is a big home stand for us. We always want, you know, if you can, you save the best for last…Early in the season, every one was tripping about Atlanta, and beating Atlanta and stuff, and now it’s time to follow up the sweep we got over them in Atlanta last weekend… “We like where we are right now. We’re playing great baseball and it’s at the right time.”
…tripping…nice, willie is so new jack swing…
…tonight, the Mets welcome the Braves, then have a day off on Thursday, which is followed by three games in Shea Stadium against the Phillies…in other words, this is it…if there is a time to play well, play strong and ‘go after it,’ like willie says, well, this is it…
Tagged Willie Randolph |
In a win against the Astros yesterday, Pedro Martinez pitched five scoreless innings. He allowed six hits while walking one and striking out four. Martinez talked to reporters after the game, and had the following to say regarding… …this start, compared to his first start…
“I think location and change-up (were better.) I was locating the change-up where I wanted, except for one that just went out of my hands and behind Loretta… “But, as far as pitching, just being consistent around the plate was better today.”
…how he feels…
“I’m great, I’m great. I’ve been under-the-weather a little bit, but, you know, no whining.”
…hitting a double off of Roy Oswalt…
“Well, I told Jose Reyes that I was gonna ambush Oswalt and I happened to see a good fastball pass by, he kind of left the other one middle away, and I found it. I don’t know, somebody told me I closed my eyes and I found it (laughing). I started running in case it falls, and it did.”
…his curve ball…
“Well, I’m not very consistent with it…But, at this time, I’m just trying to pitch my way through it an regain my confidence – to actually be able to do whatever I’m able to do. Remember, the curve ball is always the most dangerous pitch when it comes to hurting your shoulder. So, I’m trying to be more cautious with the breaking ball than with any other pitch…
…it actually looked pretty good when he threw it… …despite a pitch count, was he going to finish the fifth inning at any cost, during which he had two runners on, two outs, and Mark Loretta at the plate…
“Oh, believe me that was my mentality, especially with Loretta. Umm, it might look awkward, but I didn’t want to fight Loretta at that time. I felt much more comfortable with Lamb, than I did with Loretta, so I decided to pitch around him and try to start over on the next guy – and I let Paulito (Lo Duca) know that I was gonna do that.”
…paulito…hilarious… …after the game, i wrote the following…
it looked to me like had no interest in facing Mark Loretta, who is impossible to strike out, and who hit a single up the middle in his previous at-bat…so, again, to me, it looked like pedro tried to hit loretta, and put him on base…nobody will agree with me…but, i’m thinking he didn’t want to waste the pitches…he missed him, and then threw three straight weak fastballs off the plate, to put loretta on first as planned…Mike Lamb then popped out to center to end the inning…crisis averted…as planned…
…i’d still love to know if he was trying to hit loretta with the change-up, which would typically make no sense…but, if you’re pedro with a pitch count, and close to the end of your rope, but also respectful of the hitter, why not just plunk him with a softball, save the bullets and move on to lamb…oh well, i guess we’ll never know… …taking a curtain call after being removed from the game…
“You know, (laughing), I was expecting the curtain call after the double. So, I got it afterwards. It was great. It was great to just actually give something back to the fans. After being so loyal and so faithful all year, I know that they have been waiting. Every time that the team got close to move, somebody from the team would let me know how mmuch everyone missed me around here.”
…i’m just glad to have his energy and electricity back…plus, he can still pitch, which is almost like icing on the cake…
Tagged Pedro Martinez |…i am working to install a plugin that will allow for threaded comments, like we had on the old site…
…once i complete making posts to the main page this morning, i will begin working on the comments section…
…thanks for being patient…
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