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Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Tradition Field today.
…even though it is freezing here in New York, i changed the header of MetsBlog to reflect a more spring vibe, with the grand-stand from Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie…i hope it works…
…also, i got the following e-mail last night, which made me laugh…
“If you ever go back to writing ‘Pitchers-n-Catchers’ I will stop reading this site.”
…wow, now that’s an old school reader, who has clearly been reading MetsBlog since its inception…and no worries, that -n- is a thing of the past…
If it makes you feel any better, it’s 42 degrees right now in Melbourne, FL (45 min north of PSL). High today is 69, Low is 54, however that works…
That does not make me feel better, as I was able to see my breath this morning
Yeah, it was 20° when I left for work this morning in DC.
I’m so happy this is finally here…
Now it’s only a matter of time before spring training games start and then it will really feel like baseball season
Love the header … makes me forget about this cold weather.
Awesome, awesome, awesome.
I still haven’t entirely given up on my gutless Rangers, but I’m ready to be optimistic about a team again. Let’s Go Mets!
Don’t tell me you’ve given up on the KNICKS?
Until zeke goes, I’ve given up.
And, Dolan, too.
Oh of course not, I just assumed it was a given that we all knew they’d be winning the NBA title this year. With our fantastic guard play and devastating interior defense, we’re a shoo-in.
Magic Johnson swears they’re gonna make the playoffs! And Magic is never wrong…right?
I thought he said he was routin for the Phoenix Suns.
Shoule we bat Delgado 5th or 6th? Alou hit .404 from the six hole. Delgado was most productive hitting 6th (.324), though his drop off hitting 5th was not nearly dramatic as Alou’s. Church was very good hitting 5th (.346)
Would you do Church, Alou, Delgado for 5-6-7?
Am I getting ahead of myself?
It should be Delgado, Alou, Church. Splits up the LHs and gives Delgado protection. Alou does not really need protection.
If Carlos can’t hit above .240, I’d drop him to 7 where there is less pressure. I want a better hitter in the 5 hole to keep innings alive.
What reason do we have to think he will hit .240? He only hit below .240 for April and June. The rest of the time he hit near .300
Oh, please Carlos Delgado, please don’t stink!
I would think that you go Left – Right – Left in that part of the batting order, and I doubt that Church-Alou-Delgado is an option.
I think you end up with Delgado-Alou-Church by default.
Yes, it probably starts out that way. But if Delgado continues on last year’s path and Church stays the same or improves, then it’s got to switch. You can’t have the Delgado of last year protecting Beltran in the lineup. Pitchers will simply pitch around Beltran and go after Delgado, which will cause Beltran to get himself out fishing for bad pitches.
You do still realize that even with Delgado’s worst year hewas still a productive hitter right? Especially in the 2nd half.
D-A-C. Giving Carlos protection and Church someone to drive in will work nicely. I think Delgado will be the difference maker this year. Aside from Pedro, he can influence whether we win 100 or 85 games this year.
Against a righty, I’d go:
1. Reyes (S)
2. Castillo (S)
3. Wright (R)
4. Beltran (S)
5. Delgado (L)
6. Alou (R)
7. Church (L)
8. Schneider (L)
Against a lefty, I’d flip Delgado and Alou. Church and Schneider could be flipped depending on how they’re hitting of lefties during a particular stretch.
Even better, against a lefty, play Castro and sit Schneider.
I will go with Delgado 5th Alou 6th for balance, but yes, Carlos needs to hit like he did in the 2nd half (you know, when he finally got in a groove just before getting hurt again).
Alou will clean up a ton of ducks, and be on to give someone for Church to drive in.
And against lefties, Castro can be a devastating 8th hitter.
Absolutely, forgot about Castro. Funny, too, because I’ve been talking about my desire for a Schneider/Castro platoon for months!
If Santana hits as well as we think, should he hit 8th when he pitches?
That’s just ridiculous. He’s had less than 31 at bats in his career and you want to bat him in front of a position player.
if he’s as good a hitter as Mike Hampton was and our #8 is as bad as Rey Ordonez, then absolutely we should do that.
Of course, I doubt either of those things, so it’s pointless to even worry about it yet.
If you do a Google search for “pitcher hit 8th?” you’ll find many studies and analyses on the potential benefits of batting a pitcher 8th. In some lineups, you’d actually see a slight increase (I said slight!) batting a pitcher 8th, with a higher OBP player batting 9th.
Not advocating for this, just saying it’s not completely insane.
i can’t see willie going for that
I love Beltran hitting cleanup. 1.006 OPS from the cleanup slot.
We easily have the most balanced lineup in the NL.
Reyes, best leadoff hitter
Castillo, prototypical #2
Wright, obviously a perfect #3
Beltran, really took off in the #4 spot.
Delgado, still a threat to pitchers and an RBI man.
Alou, maybe best pure hitter in the lineup. RBI machine.
Church, gives balance and is a great extrabase hitter.
Schneider, clears the pitcher with a decent OBP does not strike out much.
Im a big fan of his – But Jose is not the best leadoff hitter based on his performance last year.
I’d agree, though I’d also argue he’s top five. Hanley Ramirez and Jimmy Rollins are obviously two of the best, with Soriano and Grady Sizemore up there, too. Reyes would have to be somewhere in there, as well; factoring in his SB totals and the effect his presence has on pitchers, he’s a terror.
That’s not even fair. One of those guys in not in the NL and the others are not even really leadoff hitters. If the Mets had any of those players and Jose, who do you think would lead off?
Sorry, didn’t realize we were going NL-only. Didn’t RTFA.
The other guys may not be prototypical leadoff hitters, but they’re leadoff hitters nonetheless. Agreed that Jose would still hit leadoff, but I’m just looking at things from a purely statistical standpoint.
he’s not the best based on his numbers last year, but he could very easily be the best next year. I really don’t get why people are so down on Reyes. At the age of 23, he WAS the best leadoff hitter in baseball. At the age of 24, he was slightly worse than he was at 23, but other players (Rollins & HanRam esp.) had much better seasons than they did before.
Ramirez is 6 months younger than Reyes, and has been slightly better than Reyes was at both ages 22 & 23. It’s likely that even if he regresses a little this year (which I expect he will), he’ll still be slightly better than Reyes was last year. I think he’s a better hitter than Reyes, but that doesn’t make Reyes bad. Reyes is faster and plays much better defense. Put it together and they are fairly even ballplayers in the grand scheme of things.
Jimmy Rollins is 5 years older than Reyes. Let’s compare Rollins & Reyes age 22, 23, & 24 seasons:
22:
Rollins – .274/.323/.419, 14 HR, 46 SB, 92 OPS+
Reyes – .273/.300./.386, 7 HR, 60 SB, 81 OPS+
23:
Rollins – .245/.306/.380, 11 HR, 31 SB, 85 OPS+
Reyes – .300/.354/.486, 19 HR, 64 SB, 115 OPS+
24:
Rollins – .263/.320/.387, 8 HR, 20 SB, 90 OPS+
Reyes – .280/.354/.421, 12 HR, 78 SB, 103 OPS+
Rollins was a little bit better at age 22, but Reyes was much better at ages 23 & 24 (especially when you consider stolen bases.) I love Philly fans who keep saying how much better Rollins is than Reyes (and who stupidly argue that Utley is better than Wright), without considering the fact that when Rollins was Reyes’ age, he was a below average Major Leaguer, and when Utley was Wright’s age he was still in the minor leagues. I would bet my next 2 months paychecks that Reyes will have a better career than Rollins, and a lot more than that that Wright will have a better career than any of them.
To me those other guys are #3 hitters being forced to hit leadoff. That would not be any different than David Wright batting leadoff.
I stand by my point that Reyes is the best LEADOFF hitter in the NL. The other guys are better hitters but Reyes is the best at #1.
Agreed. It boggles my mind why someone like Soriano is hitting lead off…Every home run he hits is a wasted RBI. I understand he has speed and can steal a base or two, but his best asset is his long ball skills. Put him in the 3 spot and the Cubs would have easily won 3 or 4 more games right off the bat…
Plus he did not even steal 15 bases last year.
Which always me makes me wonder why he is in the lead off position…I would think Nasty Lou would have the sense to put him in the 3 spot and let Lee and Ramirez fight for 4th.
Agreed with everyone here. If we’re going with the prototypical definition of what a leadoff hitter ought to be (good OBP, speed, base stealing ability), then Reyes is likely tops in the NL.
We have all the read the numerous statistics that point to the W-L differential when Reyes is in a slump. I hate the “sparkplug” moniker, but its true. When he is in a slump and not on base we don’t do as well, thus making him the most natural lead-off hitter in baseball.
All I have to say is, “Yea!” Finally! It’s baseball time.
LET’S GO METS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt:
Great job on the Hot-Stove and helping us get through the off season.
Matt clapping when Johan was introduced is so funny. I’d certainly do the same.
I still don’t get the hate for Delgado. I just wonder who has looked deep enough to see that Delgado just really sucked in April after coming back from surgery.
Delgado hit .273 with 23 HR 75 RBI after April. I will take that anytime from Delgado.
Agreed entirely. Delgado will be fine.
couldn’t agree more. Plus it’s a walk year. Not to continue the Philly fan bashing (oh who am I kidding, I love bashing them), but they keep telling us how washed up Delgado is, but weren’t they the same fanbase who thought Jim Thome was washed up 2 years ago? The same Jim Thome who has hit 77 homers the last 2 years, hitting .288 & .277, and driving in over 200 runs on a pretty below-average offense?
Heck, I might take that for the entire year! Only the RBIs are low, and if he gets locked into the 5 hole and Alou stays behind him, he could drive in 90 runs by accident.
Think of how cushy the 5 hole will be in the Mets line up.
Reyes, Castillo, DW and beltran will wear out pitchers, and put a ton of guys on base, so it will be hard to work around Delgado. And if they want to walk him, Alou will feast.
The real key for Delgado is gicving up on HRs a bit. Take the ball the other way, and get back to being patient and taking bad pitches instead of flailing.
So, his OBP might be the biggest number to look at. They really don’t need a ton of HRs out of him, just get on base and consistantly drive in the runners in front of him.
Matt, will you be going down to PSL for some first-hand blogging?
That would be cool, hopefully SNY sends him on assignment…we’d love to get some live blogs of the Spring games once they start.
Ahh, Spring Training.
Check my blog for some good, old-fashioned nostalgia.
Which is socialoil.wordpress.com
Good post. Your recent blog on your site summed up my feelings exactly. I don’t use baseball as an escape from my everyday realities of paying bills, raising my son and maintaining my relationship with my wonderful wife, but it sure is a nice reminder of how much I loved my early childhood and miss living in NY. Watching a game on TV reminds me of growing up in Queens, hanging out with my dad and grandparents (all Mets fans on both sides) and going to see games at our amazing field level seats that I took for granted as a kid (How was I to know these were good seats when all I cared about was watching Mookie and Daryl play?).