|
|
|
The Mets (2–2) lost to the Braves (2–3) by the score of 11 to 5 in Atlanta today.
For a boxscore, click here.
…John Maine looked uncomfortable and angry and awkward on the mound today, especially when throwing from the stretch with runners on base…he was sloppy, on what was an overall sloppy day…he allowed four runs and eight hits while walking three…he also allowed a ton of foul balls, and threw 96 pitches, and was pulled after just four innings…this was not the stellar debut i expected, following a hype-worthy spring…
…Joe Smith looked good in relief, though he eventually allowed a run…also, Scott Schoenweiss came on to pitch to a lefty, who got a hit and drove in another run…although, he did get Chipper Jones to flip around, who popped out weakly next to first base…
…Jose Reyes hit a ball to center field, which bounced at least one feet in front of the outfielder’s glove…yet, the ump called it an out, which led to Angel Pagan getting doubled up on second…the call was reversed, however, in the Mets favor, after Willie Randolph argued with passion…awful, awful call, blue…
…it’s funny, only in baseball will a game stop for 10 minutes so both teams and the umpires can debate the rules for every one to see…crazy…also, only in baseball will the game stop for 10 minutes because one player is unhappy with the dirt, thus calling out the groundscrew to make the ground all nicey nice like Jorge Sosa requested…i love it…
…speaking of sosa, he allowed a monster grand slam to Kelly Johnson, after having loaded the bases on his own, which put the Mets down six runs…ugly…he grooved a fat, 3–2 fastball and johnson turned on it……there were points in which he looked unhinged, and i hoped to see some one else get the call, like Pedro Feliciano…however, sosa was one or two pitches away from being out of the inning on a few occasions, too, but he just couldn’t get it done…
…in the next inning, with momentum clearly on atlanta’s side, the Mets got back-to-back doubles from Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado (against lefties), followed by a two sacrifices to put two more runs on the board, which was good to see…they didn’t roll over…they kept up the fight…which is a good sign…especially on a sluggish, gloomy afternoon when down six with six outs left…
…of course, in their next turn, atlanta tacked on more runs, thanks to Nelson Figueroa, a diving beltran, some bad routes and a sloppy throw…
…Yunel Escobar looks like Andres Galarraga at the plate…
…look, the Mets allowed 11 runs, which is awful…however, any time Tim Hudson is on his game, and gets 11 ground-ball outs, it’s gonna be a tedious day…
…frankly, i’m putting this slop-fest behind me, while focusing on tomorrow’s exciting match up of Johan Santana vs. John Smoltz…i can’t wait…
Tough game to just “put behind you” There are things you must take out of every game. Go look at the box score….only 2 innings the Braves DIDN’T score in. Thats a problem.
Reyes and Wright didn’t get it done today…..as they go, the team goes.
Sosa had no business pitching to Kelly Johnson. I think the entire nation realized that, except Willie Randolph. Games like these…and decisions like that, are what will lead to his firing.
John Maine is going to have to grow some balls. Seriously. He acts like an erratic scared little child everytime runners are threatening. Furthermore he allowed too many baserunners period. But I’d like to see some more toughness on the mound.
Overall bad game. Losing to the Braves is one thing….allowing 11 runs is another. Thats embarassing and makes our staff look real bad.
Santana tomorrow. Win it…and win it easily.
I agree with everything you wrote. I cant believe Randolph did not bring in Feliciano to pitch to Johnson. I just think that if there is one area where Willie is really weak is handling his pitchers. Decisions like the one he made today with Sosa were the kind he was making last September.
Santana should make his job a lot easier tomorrow.
I disagree with everything you said…
It’s not a tough game to put behind you. They got outplayed. It happens. don’t sulk about it, just wake up tomorrow and be the better team.
Could someone else have pitched to johnson, sure, but it wasn’t as obviouse as you make it sound. sosa will be a big part of this team if they are succesful, so give him a shot to get some big outs now, just like he did on opening day.
Maine wasn’t on his game, but to say he needs to grow some balls is just stupid. with every post you make, you convince me that you have never played or watched a game of baseball in your life. The kid battles. If his pitch count is up, it is for different reasons than his lack of balls. sounds like you need to grow a set youself.
They didn’t play a good game, and they deserve the loss. thats what i love about baseball. they are 2-2 with 158 games to play. no need to panic dude, and pleny of time for you to learn this game that you are commenting on.
did i just really read “john maine allowed a ton of foul balls”..? come on, bro…if you dont have your stuff, which was clearly the case, thats going to happen…sounds like his foul balls need to be listed the “hits” category..
yunel escobar is legit, get over it….not really sure what “he looks like andres galarraga at the plate means”… he’s a solid player for years to come. if renteria’s gone, its for a legitimate reason. sucks, but we gotta build a bridge and get over it.
while we’re just complaining, how about mother nature…its her fault this whole debacle happened. i still can’t believe the rotation is the way it is, and that santana isn’t slated to pitch against the phillies. thats foolish.
Agreed. Move on, bring on Santana, and go home with a win under our belt.
The Mets have to jump on Smoltz tomorrow. No 2-1, 3-1 victory. I’d like to see them show some anger and hit the ball around Turner.
Give Atlanta a dose of their own…
Jump on Smoltz? That would be wonderful but easier said than done. He’s pretty darn good and just because Santana’s pitching doesn’t mean an automatic win as the previous posters here seem to imply.
No need to worry. There’s still 158 games left. A good pitching performance will make this loss go away like when Ollie shut down the marlins
everyone needs to move on, especially the 9 guys who have to take the field tomorrow in the first inning. But if there is a lesson here to be learned from last year, you have to play 162 games.
Ok, again, this is not an over reaction based on 1, or 4 games….this is my opinion looking at the recent few years. The Mets will not win a WS until both of the following occur:
1-Willie is gone
2- Delgado is gone or dropped to at least the 7 spot.
Since Delgado got 2 hits today (1 was a lucky dribler, and the other was a 1 handed swing where he should be thanking god Ring decided to throw an off speed pitch) I will not get on him today.
Now, onto WIllie! I am sorry but since 2005 there have just been too many innings like the 7th inning of todays game. Lets start with the top of the 7th. Moylan, a pitcher who the Mets tattood the last week of ST, faces schneider….bullet up the middle, Endy, bullet up the middle. Now, Jose Reyes, the supposed future MVP, and you bunt down by 2???? What is he kidding me???????????? Why does Willie insist upon giving outs to pitchers who arent getting anybody out? CAN WE EVER PLAY FOR THE BIG INNING???????? Ok, so Sleep Willie decides to put the sac on…i am instantly infuriated and screaming at the tv. Second issue…WHY CANT JOSE REYES EEVR SACRIFICE??? Time after time when the sac is put on, he trys to bunt for a hit. He did it twice!!!! Can one of these dopey coaches explain to reyes that this was a sacrafice, not a bunt for a hit???? VERY FRUSTRATING!!!!
Bottom of 7th…WHERE IS PEDRO FELICIANO!!!?????? Are you kidding em Willie? OH MY GOD! WHAT A DISASTER OF A MOVE!!!! How can you let Sosa face Johnson there…THERE IS NO REASON OR EXCUSE!
Now back to the Bottom of the 6th inning. enter Gotay…Willie lets Smith pitch to him. First off why? We just released Gotay because he couldnt hit right handed, but Willie lets him hit right handed. Ok, so base hit and sac by Escobar and NOW he takes out smith. That was a big 5th run and by the way….can the mets organization come to the grips that “The Show” is terrible and just cut your losses and release him already? He has never been goodl…EVER. People say he had a bad year last year but he was exactly at his lifetime era…ACCEPT IT GUYS….HES BAD!!!
Ok I had to vent so I can go try to enjoy the rest of my sat night.
correction, WIllie let Gotay hit left handed
You need some vallium
you need a therapist…we are four games in…no one said this was going to be easy the mets were not going to run away with it. They knew that atlanta would be tough.. Move on..Santana tomorrow ….Lets Go Mets!
While I agree that we have another 158 games to get it together, the guy makes some very valid points. Willie just isn’t cutting it.
I have to agree with Piazza45. Down 2 runs on the road and your #8 hitter and #9 pinch hitter get on base. Nodody out. Moylan was strugling with his location. Why give him a free out. He may not have gotten on base, but at least he wasn’t starting with an 0-2 count. If things go our way we may have a 6 run inning on our hand. Would you rather have the bases loaded with 1 out and David Wright at the plate or runners on second and third with 2 outs with Wright at the plate? As far as Sosa goes. We all know by now, Jorge Sosa is not a clutch late inning guy. He’s fine for Long relief of a mop up role. It was dumb to put him against Teixeira, McCann, and Francoeur. Out of those three, Francoeur has done the worst with a .500 average. Even after Willie used Sosa for the seventh, you could tell he was done after walking Prado. Why not bring in Feliciano for Kelly Johnson??? It was still 5-3 at that point. You could argue that Bobby Cox would then pinch hit for Johnson, but I would take Feliciano over Sosa against Johnson, Corky Miller, Brayan Pena, or Gregor Blanco.
We all know that the players play the game, but this was one of those games where the manager set the team up to fail.
Though they are good points, I am far more concerned with something far greater than points you make above.
That would be the reoccurence of these points over a good sum of the 158 games remaining.
He can just copy them to his desktop notepad and paste them in after the several losses that play out this same way with Willie at the helm (he may have to change the innings but that’s about it). The guy is a moron and should be fired, the sooner the better. He’s riding on 2006 which had nothing to do with him and more to do with a weak NL. That team could have been managed by a monkey and done what it did, maybe done better. Willie is horrible and we’ll be seeing a lot more posts like the one above this year until Willie is done.
I think you guys are all right. Now I want you guys to choose it out for which one of you will be the new manager. You all seem to know what it takes to be one. So as soon as you decide we’ll tell Omar and you can start right away. Good luck to the winning candidate. Oh and which ever one of you is the winner, I wouldnt look at this blog after the game, I dont think you’ll like what you read.
I don’t think we need a new manager, just someone with a clip board who can remind Willy that when 3 batters are coming up you don’t want to pick the guy who all three are hitting over .500 against.
This is the common reaction by the fan who cannot think for himself and is sucked in by the Mets KoolAid. It isn’t like those who question Willie just started today after the loss. This has been going on since his first inning of his first game with the Mets when he botched a double switch. I’m not saying I can do better but with a baseball background like Willie, he should be doing better or be shown the door.
No, I dont think Willie is that great when it comes to game strategy. He is getting better though. But you guys are constantly hounding on every little detail as if you know how to manage a major league ballclub. There’s a lot more involved than just that, dealing with the media, and millionaire ballplayers to name just a few. If managers made that much of a difference in every game then Joe Torre is the greatest manager there ever was, but we know he’s not. He filled out a lineup and sent them out there. He had a pitching coach that he asked “Who should we bring in out of the pen?” A bench coach who he discussed strategy with. You dont think Willie has these things, does these things? They seem to be the same coaches from when he started so maybe its time to lay some of the blame on them as well. But, I’ll say this before you do, yes, he is the one with the final say.
Stupid post, waste of time, quite frankly. If it was Omar, and you said who will replace Omar, this would be a more legit question, Omar being one of the better scouting GM’s in baseball, and GM just being a much harder position to fill. Who will replace Willie? Who cares, its a manager. They dont do anything. They are the most overpaid, useless people in the world, baseball managers. In football, basketball and hockey, the coach is important. They bring a style, a tempo, an image with their team. They have strategies, plays to call, and defenses to prepare for. Baseball isnt like that. You fill out the lineup card (which Willie seems to have trouble with to begin with), and you hope your guys hit and pitch. They do literally nothing. I dont care if you bring in Art Howe, Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, Davey Johnson or Billy Martin. Players win championships in baseball. The hitting coach and pitching coach even have much more important roles then a manager. Even a 3rd base coach has to do something a manager never must do during the course of a game, make a real time decision that can change the game in a split second. I dont care if they let Barry Bonds manage the team, the players decide the games. Of course, a crappy decision from the manager is one thing that can affect a game, which Willie seems to do a lot.
long time mets fan here anyone interested in a few games at cost. i have single ticks and pairs mezz box behind homplate
dwb63, what tickets do you have?? E-mail me at Kevin00197800@yahoo.com
more evidence why spring training means nothing..
dont get me wrong, i love mainey and i am chalking it up to just a bad day …. but you people who thing he was headed to a 20 win season based on his great spring, please calm down…..
As I’ve seen, every pitcher has a down game sometime near the end of ST. They all had them, even Johan, except for Maine. He just saved his for his first game. He also was pitching on an extra days rest, which does effect most pitchers so it seems. So dont be suprised if Johan has his problems with the extra day.
Is it just me or do you have such an intense hatred for Tim McAs*whole and Joe Buck as I do?
yes, I can’t stand either one..McCarver tends to beat a dead horse, and Buck is nothing like his father. Frankly, I would love to see Ron Darling on these national broadcasts.
I couldn’t believe I actually heard McCarver say that he didn’t think the Yankees were going to win the WS this year. Especially since I personally think that he and someone in the Yankee FO are lovers.
Hate’em, but not as much as Rosenthal. Phils AND Braves make the playoffs, but not the Mets? Obvious bias. You want to say they won’t make it, fine, but don’t say the wild card will come from the East and it won’t go to the Mets
Jeez. So since Rosenthal doesn’t pick the Mets to make the playoffs he shows obvious bias? It isn’t because he thinks those 2 teams will beat out our beloved Mets? Just because we’re fans of the Mets doesn’t mean they should be picked to make the postseason by others. (Maybe it’s us fans that have a bias….)
Thinking objectively, do you see the Phils AND Braves making the playoffs, but not the Mets? Because I don’t, and that’s my allegiances aside.
First off, you want to say the Phils or Braves win the NL East, fine. Couldn’t care less what your opinion is. But to say that the Mets are essentially the 3rd best team in the division? At this point in the season? And then to cite the Braves pitching depth as the reason for your pick? After Smoltz and Hudson, who can you depend on?
I sense a bit of bias, that’s all. I’m the last person to let my fan status get in the way of reason.
I’m giving everyone a pass on this game.
Maine was on way too much rest and had to pitch in sloppy weather. Sure his attitude wasn’t as good as we hoped, but come on, it was awful out there.
But definitely should have brought in Feliciano. Could have stayed in the game.
Hudson had to pitch in the same weather if he does not know how to pitch in sloppy weather he is in trouble in Oct if the mets made the playoffs .
I typically am not one to jump on Willie – and I’m not exactly going to pin a W on him, but I simply don’t understand why Smith came out for a 2nd inning and why Sosa or Figueroa were in this game. Sosa is a long man and Figueroa is a spare arm. You have to make 5 innings up out of your pen and that’s easily accomplished by an inning apiece for Smith, Schoeneweis, Wise, Feliciano, and Heilman. You’ve had two full days off and another Monday. These are their roles. This game could have been kept close, but instead we’re back to, as Willie will inevitably say “seeing what Figueroa could do in that spot.”
Wright needs to drive at least one of 4 runners he left in scoring position, Delgado whiffs with no one out and literally 50 yards of undefenced infield (I mean, 3 years in and this guy still has no clue how to make team pay for this shift? Realy Carlos? Really), and Reyes gave away a bog at bat, so it’s hardly sitting on Willie alone, but I simply do not, and will not, ever understand his refusal to use his relievers in assigned roles.
It’s pretty obvious that Sosa is not in the long man role exclusively. He is the 7th inning RHP.
Just a bad day for all concerned. Let’s hope this got out of their system for a dozen games or so.
Sacrificing with 2 on and 0 out is absolutely the right call. Put men on 2nd and 3rd with one out and the heart of the order coming up. A base hit ties the game.
Problem is, Reyes tried to bunt for a hit rather than a sac, and got into a 2-strike hole. He could’ve pushed the ball down the line and gotten the sac, but couldn’t do it because he wanted a hit.
Wanna blame somebody? Blame Reyes for not giving himself up, not the manager who made the right call.
Just like Randolph, you know nothing about baseball. You have one of your supposed best bats up , you have nine outs left and you have him bunt. You probabably also think he made the right move by leaving in Sosa. Lets start a pool-what is the date of Randolph’s dismissal .
Let’s see… Reyes has maybe a 30 pct. chance of getting a hit … or you can take an easy sac and move 2 runners over to scoring position, and give TWO hitters a chance to tie the game with a hit.
Reyes showed the same me-first attitude that he said he’d dumped. Put men at 2nd and 3rd with one out, you’ve got a great chance to tie the game. Whether it was the right call or not (and I think it was), the call was made.
Reyes made no attempt to “sacrifice” himself. He bunted for a hit twice, failed, and hit a fly ball for an out.
How do you know that wasn’t be design? I mean, he tried to bunt for a hit, met with Alomar, Jr. and then tried to bunt for a hit again.
How do you know Reyes is being selfish and he wasn’t just doing what the coaches asked him to do?
You simply don’t.
You are exactly right and the bunt is the only call here. What I would have loved to see, is after reyes ignores the instruction from the bench – take him out of the game after that AB – being embarassed on national TV – maybe that would wake the kid up and make him realize he needs to get it together.
You’re ridiculous. You have NO IDEA if he ignored instruction from the bench. Absolutely none.
Willie even patted him on the tail on his way back to the dugout. I’m sure he would have done that if Reyes ignored his instruction.
Ridiculous.
You’re telling me that Jose Reyes can’t lay a bunt out in the middle of the field to move a runner over? You say I know nothing about baseball, but I know enough to know that a guy who has bunted as much as Reyes has, can lay down a sac bunt if that’s what he’s trying to do. He was bunting for a hit.
Because he WAS TOLD TO BUNT FOR A HIT. How dense are you?
If he was told to bunt for a hit, then that’s a bad call by Willie, and I take back everything I’ve ever said.
Sorry to name-call. That was Bush League on my part.
Here’s what Willie was thinking (and we can agree or disagree on hi logic): He wanted to keep the chance of the big inning open, so he had Reyes try to bunt for a hit. If they threw Reyes out, then it acted as a sacrifice. If Reyes beat the throw to first, it kept the big inning alive.
He didn’t want Reyes to just outright give himself up since he is a good hitter. Reyes is a good bunter, he just executed poorly in that situation.
Appreciate that, Danny. You’re probably right about the strategy, but I don’t agree with it. You either tell the guy “get the runners over”, or “swing away.” Either one is difficult but to “do both if you can” is a tall order.
But, if the instructions were as you said, I’m too hard on Jose.
I would have just let him swing away, too.
You have Reyes with his 57 RBI’s and .421 SLG last year bunting for Castillo and 38 RBIs and .359 SLG last year. Most of Castillo’s hits barely leave the infield and you ask Reyes to bunt for Castillo. I guess Willie’s gut wasn’t up for the game today or was it the Subway Pastrami Sandwich that was the root of the problem. :)
Bunting with Reyes was stupid. Period. Here’s why:
1) Reyes is extremely hard to double up from the left side.
2) He is actually one of the better run producers on the team. He has extra base hit potential, and was hitting line drives. Why they would take the bat out of the hands of our 3rd best hitter is mind boggling.
3) Luis Castillo was the next man up. If we actually had someone who could drive the ball hitting second, then maybe I could buy the “bunt for a hit, but if it fails then its a sacrifice” idea. But we don’t. We have Mr. Slappy, who of course, didn’t get the ball out of the infield.
4) It was still early enough in the game that we had time to come back from 2 runs down. The pen was fresh, and considering how they’ve pitched, you had to figure they could hold the Braves.
Outs are the most valuable commodity in a baseball game. You shouldn’t give them up needlessly, especially with one of your better hitters up at bat against Peter Moylan. Why not let Reyes swing away? He could have roped a triple.
Oh, and Mike, you said Reyes only had about a 30% chance of getting a hit… do Wright and Castillo have a better than 30% chance of getting a hit?
It’s one thing to give up an out to give Wright or Beltran a shot with RISP. But to give up an out to get up Luis Castillo? Really? You would rather have Castillo up there than Reyes?
Personally, I let one of our best players swing away. He could easily smoke a triple and tie the game himself.
My thought was that Castillo had about a 30% chance, and Wright had about a 35% chance (I’m making up percentages, but the idea is …. put 2 guys in scoring position, and give 2 guys a chance to drive them in, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ve got a tie game going into the 8th.)
Hey, my biggest question is, what did Willie ask Reyes to do. Did he ask him to get a hit (that’s reasonable), to sacrifice (that’s reasonable too), or to sorta try to sacrifice but try to get a hit too (that’s stupid, IMO). If Reyes was told to sac bunt, he did a terrible job. I don’t know.
You don’t need to “make up percentages.” Why not use actual proof, like their batting average.
Reyes is one of the most dangerous players in the game, why take the bat out of his hands?
Who would you rather have up with two men on? Reyes or Castillo?
So why did he bunt twice? I’d either have him bunt to move the runners (in which case, he did a real bad job), or swing away (which he didn’t). He was bunting for a hit, which is a bad percentage move. No?
Bunting with Reyes is a bad move, period, especially that early in the game. He has proven to be a run producer in the past. Why take the bat out of his hands to bring up Castillo?
Like I said, you want to bunt with Reyes to get Wright up with RISP? Fine, I can maybe buy that. But not to bring up Castillo.
I guess what I’d like to know is, what was Reyes’ objective when he went to the plate.
I can understand him bunting, if he was asked to sacrifice the runners to 2nd and 3rd. But if that’s the case, he did a real bad job of it.
If he was told to swing away, trying to bunt for a hit, twice, makes no sense. He should’ve tried to drive the ball into a gap, not bunt.
So, the original point I made (right or wrong) was that he was probably asked to move the runners, and he didn’t do it.
I think he was asked to sacrifice, but he was unwilling to “just” lay down a good sac bunt, and instead tried twice to bunt for a hit. That left him in a 1-2 hole, and from there, you have to swing, and he flied out.
Maybe Willie will tell us otherwise.
I really think they told him to bunt for a hit. I mean, he went over to talk to Sandy… I doubt there is a “bunt for a hit” sign.
wow, I guess we should let this go, but (in the hope of having the last word!), Reyes should’ve either:
Sacrificed himself to move the runners over to give the 2/3 hitters a chance to drive in the tying runs; or
Swung hard at three pitches, trying to create a big inning, and not wasting two strikes on trying to load the bases with a bunt single.
What he actually did – obviously bunting for a hit, not a sacrifice – made no sense to me.
But I’ve been wrong many, many, many times before.
Let me just say first that this is just my opinion from past experience. In my playing days I had a ton of bunt base hits and was told by my managers of the teams I played for, that when I was given the bunt sign with runners on, I was to always try to bunt for the hit. As a head coach, if I had a player like that I said the same to him. Now maybe Willie has said the same thing to Jose, though I dont think Jose has bunted well enough to be given that kind of leeway. But at that point if I’m having him bunt, I would like him to try for the hit, but I want him to make sure he got it down.
wow willie haters out in force today. calm down, there are bad games throughout the year. “maine needs to grow some balls”…??? that’s how he always looks….even when hes doing well he looks pissed off, its called focus.
Even with the pitching as bad as it was, we could have won the game if we didnt go 2-11 or something with RISP. To me the bats lost todays game…
I’m not even a Wilie hater, I just find it astounding that the game was lost by the 2 relievers (out of EIGHT…can someone explain the current roster configuration to me?) who has no business being in the game past the 5th. I am sure Wise and Heilman appreciate having 3 full days off though. Relievers love sporadic work.
As for Delgado, if rats were as stupid as Delgado, the world would never know the name BF Skinner. The fact that he is still hitting into that shift and not punishing teams for it into a third season is horrifying/hilarious/pathetic.
Bunt…down…the….third base….line….please
Hey, why is the bullpen the only ones to blame. Consider that
1. We were never ahead in this game
2. Maine gave up 4 runs
3. DWright left 4 RISPs
4. Reyes/Castillo/Wright went 1 for 14
But that’s all Willie’s fault, too, I suppose.
How about this Spin:
1. Up to the 7th inning we were never ahead in this game
2. Maine gave up 4 runs in 4 innings
3. DWright left 4 RISPs
4. Reyes/Castillo/Wright went 1 for 14
We were facing Atlanta’s ace
AND we had a shot WIN the game until the 7th inning
Let’s not get carried away about the bad call on Reyes’ hit to center. Yes, it was a blown call. But it most certainly did not land a foot in front of Kotsay. The Umps were in the positions that they were supposed to be in, and it just happened to make the play a very difficult one to see. They reversed it, and it was good to see them get the call right. It’s easy for us to see the replays on TV and call the Blue blind, but they don’t get that luxury.
And don’t forget that the Mets were lucky to not get nailed for Pagan completely ignoring the fact that Church was standing on third base when he rounded it on his way to the plate.
I saw it bounce pretty clearly in live TV. It was an easy call.
So did I, and like I said above it is a pretty easy call when you are watching it on TV. It was most likely not an easy call for a bunch of guys who were on the move getting into their positions.
These guys are right so often, even when the call is harder than that, that you just expect them to get it right when it’s that clear.
I can’t believe so many fans actually thought we might win this game after that blown call. There were signs all over this was not going to be our day. On FOX, squeezing Maine on Texiera strike 3 in the First, Maine overthrowing, many others. It would have been great and yeah this loss s*cks but seriously it’s game #4. I’m just counting the days till Chipper gets injured again for 3+ weeks like our old timers and then watch Atlanta fade. Agree, with alot of things said here like Sosa had no business pitching to Johnson but it’s one game. Feliciano in for one guy, yeah absolutely but Cox probably would have pulled Johnson back and put up a righty, which would have been OK for Feliciano also. And why waste Heilman on a cold rainy day in Hot ‘lanta when tomorrows plan should be Santana 7, Heilman then Wagner and come home for Tuesday. What did drive me nuts early was they couldn’t touch Maine’s fastball and Schneider seemed to keep calling for off speed stuff when Maine had 2 strikes on guys. Some key early hits were on off speed stuff that wasn’t offspeed enough because Maine had too much rest. Seriously, off speed stuff at 87mph? Today was the day to beat them with gas for as long as he could. Oh well.
Ok, everyone needs to freakin relax!!
WHY ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT THE DATE OF WILLIE’S DISMISSAL?????? WE ARE 4 GAMES INTO THE SEASON!
i love how after the marlins series everyone is like YAY for the Mets, then one bad loss, and you all want to fire Willie, scream at Reyes, WHO WAS KILLING DELGADO? THE MAN IS HITTING LIKE .320 for the first 4 games, how can you get on him? As long as he is even hitting singles and getting on base, leave the man alone.
Come on everybody, take a deep freaking breath, and calm down, Johan pitches tomorrow, there are 158 games left.
Hear Hear
Please, he could be heard in Nepal. :)
Totally agree. And look on the bright side:
- Pagan is continuing his spring training TEAR, tied for team lead in RBIs. We’re not missing Alou as much as we thought we would.
- Church busting out of his slump, looking like a left-handed Nady. Great to see.
- Our bullpen (Sosa aside) has been pretty darn good so far.
- Johan tomorrow
- Delgado starting off pretty great
Cheer the heck up.
This arm-chair micro-managing and Willie-bashing is pretty ridiculous.
Over the course of a 162 game season every team is going to have crap games — bullpens will give up runs (even grand slams), runners will be left in scoring position, startin pitchers will get hit and be erratic …
If problems evident in today’s game persist, then, yeah, it’s time to start getting frustrated and pointing fingers and asking questions. But the sky isn’t falling just because Maine isn’t sharp, D. Wright doesn’t get a big hit and Sosa makes a bad pitch.
We’re four games in …
Only real critcism of willie should be his now 2 season
of feliciano.Just seems for whatever reason he doesn’t
trust the guy which doesn’t make sense.
during the cut-away to willie after jose twice tried to bunt
he looked aggravated and started chirping at jerry manuel.
i dont think he had a bunt sign.
Two problems which i’ve screamed about since Omar
re-signed castillo and alou–Luis simply cant drive the ball
at all so moving the runners over makes no sense.
If hes not in a table setting situation,hes useless!
#2 the alou signing is a disaster because Omar was
counting on him to be a Righty-run producing 5or6 hitter
and this guys been hurt his entire career. to have counted
on him at 42 to get any more then 300ABs was/is simply
foolish. At some point this season Omar’s gonna have
to make the deal of his life by getting us a proven RBI
guy to protect the 1st 4 in the line-up w/o having much
to offer anyone.
When you lose the NL East by one game, you tend to get pissed of when your manager is working against you. The final score was 11-5, but Willie put us in several bad situations.:
After finally getting Hudson out of the game we get our first 2 hitters on base for the top of the order with now out. Jose Reyes, one of our best hitters comes up to bunt. As soon as he squares, Moylan knows he has free out. There was no surprise. Especially after he did it the second time. Moylan was strugling with his location and he was let off the hook. I think everyone agrees that Reyes is a mutch better hitter ahead in the acount than down 0-2.
In the Bottom of the seventh were still only down 5-3. Willie brings in Jorge Sosa to face Teixeira, McCann, and Francoeur:
Teixeira vs Sosa
5-9 , 2 doubles, 1 home run, 1.711 OPS
Teixeria vs Feliciano
1-4, 1 hr, 2ks 1.250 ops
McCann vs Sosa
3-3, 1 double, 2.333 OPS
McCann vs Feliciano
2-8, 1double, .708 OPS
Francoeur vs Sosa
1-3, 1 double, 1.667 OPS
Francoeur vs Feliciano
0-2 with 2 walks
Then Willie Makes it worst, keeping Sosa in the game to face Kelly Johnson with bases loaded with only scubs left on the bench.
This was a game we had a decent chance at winning and we end up getting blown out!
You have just committed the two cardinal sins that I have found myself guilty of at this blog. One is you used facts and stats to back up your point and the 2nd is you, like me, waste our time posting here. :)
Go point, but it’s a better way to vent then screaming at the tv or trying to pull my hair out. Plus this way I don’t wake the kids up :)
Sounds like last September…don’t worry about it, we’re up by 7 with 17 to play. When the Mets and Willie are still doing this crap in June and are in 3rd behind the Phils and Braves, then maybe more Mets fans will take of their orange and blue colored glasses and realize Willie is a fool and this team will never be as good as it could be with him at the helm.
I think asking on of the best hitters on the team to bunt with 2 men on and 0 outs is pretty egregious and deserves criticism. Especially when said player is one of the fastest players in the game and didn’t GIDP until after the All Star break last season.
Not to mention the guy hitting behind him has trouble getting the ball out of the infield.
You can say he should have brought Feliciano in, that is legit.
But you can’t say Reyes bunting there is a bad call. Our bullpen has been lockdown, if you bunt the runners to second and third, with a contact hitter coming up, that’s a run.
So you have a pretty good shot at a sacrafice and two shots at a single to tie the game, or more.
Anyone who thinks you CLEARLY have to have Reyes swing away here is not being reasonable.
But why should you be content with only 2 runs? This has been this team’s problem for 3 years now. They’re content with a run or two when they should be going for the big inning.
The fact that the bullpen has been strong is actually a better argument for NOT bunting. If we don’t get the runs, then the pen should hold them, right? It was still early, no need to be playing for a tie there.
What is astounding to me is that you’d rather see Castillo up there trying to drive in those runs than Reyes. I mean, we had one guy in scoring position anyway. Reyes get a hit, Pagan scores. Then it’s first and second with Castillo up and no one out.
The bottom line is that a hitter of Reyes’ caliber should not be bunting with runners on base. He should be swinging away.
Okay, last year was terrible for many reasons, but the number one reason is this:
Everyone now feels the need to breakdown every single game and point out everything that went wrong and then say how these issues will apply to the whole season.
This is a 162 game season and the very best teams in history will still manage to lose 60 games. We are not the type of team that can be considered an all-time best team, so here’s a special note to everyone that feels the need to jump off a bridge after a loss like today:
There will be roughly 65 to 75 more days like these over the next six months.
This could be wrong, but maybe Willie didn’t want to use his first tier relievers when we were behind. Any reaction to that?
Sosa looked scared out there, and needed to be pulled, but Figgy came in essentially in a mop-up role to get work.
thank you charlie. It boggles my mind how people break down the flaws on the mets team after a singular loss in a season 4 games old. They can’t win unless Willie is gone, Delgado is done of course. Its the same broken record. There are games you play badly and others you don’t. They won 13-0 and then played a slopfest like this. It doesn’t mean they have no pitching, no hitting etc…I just can’t read these comments after each game. Its so ridiculous. Should we break down every game the 27 Yankees or the 45 Cubs or the 86 Mets had and see how many 11-5 games they lost? Come on people.
Maybe this blog is just the dumping ground for the wackos, and most of us Mets fans do have some perspective and are rational but its hard to know at this point
I like Willie and how he handles his players, but the way he manages the game is frustrating. Managers only acount for a couple of wins or losses each year, but it’s annoying when he puts the team in bad situations.
Is there anybody else here who feels like me that Willie looks to the jacket for the pitching decisions? Like who should be warming up, who can be used that day, and for how many innings. I mean Willie looks at the other teams lineup, who’s going to be coming up and say lets get a lefty, or a righty, or both up. Peterson suggests the pitchers, and then Willie goes by what he suggests. I mean Peterson is the one who’s suppose to be in charge of the pitchers and suppose to know their effectiveness against the opposition and its players. I mean I always asked my pitching coach for his opinion before I made a move, not that I always listened to him, but his opinion carried a lot of weight with me. You would think with the jackets reputation Willie would respect his opinion. Of course thats not to say Peterson told him to take him out but Willie wanted to see what he could do in the situation.
Pederson has a history of using statistics. So if he were making the call you might see some more logical match ups. Besides the jacket would cover up his gut making it less usefull
I am just SO tired of everyone thinking they know better than the professionals. It’s such an easy job from the couch isn’t it? Being a coach, manager, GM…piece of cake! Get over it, you knew going in we wouldn’t go 162 – 0. Its a long season boys. Relax a little, you’re going to burn out before June at this rate. Not everyone wants to hear your over analysis of every move made in every game.
Baseball isn’t accounting, medicine, rocket science, or law. It’s the same game you played in little league.
These “professionals” make it seem like you need to have all this experience in order to be a manager, when all you really need is common sense.
Who would you rather have up with 2 men on, Reyes or Castillo? Personally, I’ll take Jose. See? Simple.
What would he be saving them for??? We had 2 days off plus another one on monday. We’re playing a division rival, and at the time he brought in Sosa we were only down 2. We had just gotten into the Braves bullpen, so it’s a safe bet we’re gonna score 2 more. Plus Johan’s pitching tomarrow. If anything bring in our top releivers so they don’t get stale.
It’s funny. I was about to come on here to rip Willie for leaving Sosa in to face Johnson, yet looking at Johnson’s splits, he still hits pretty well against lefties.
Regardless sloppy, sloppy game. Still, I think this is a totally different game if wonder boy Wright comes through in one of those second and third situations. Wright looked very jumpy and over anxious at the plate today. People are killing Delgado, but at least he went with the pitch on a couple of occasions.
True, but out of the 5 times Feliciano has faced Kelly Johnson, he struck him out 3
The reason why I would not sac Reyes in that situation–although it’s not IMO s outrageous as some make it out to be–is that he is supposedly one of the 3 best hitters on the team. Castillo was batting left-handed behind him, and Castillo does not hit the ball out of the infield when batting left-handed, (I can’t believe that I will have to put up with the human drag-bunt–or at least his contract–for another four years), and he has been a horrible RBI man for his entire career. (Baseball Reference calls Castillo one of the worst RBI men in the history of the game). When Reyes did what he did, he was putting everything on the shoulders of David Wright, who had thus far grounded out meekly 3 times and was about to do so again.
I don’t know if it was Willie’s decision or Reyes’ but it was a bad move. I’ll give Willie a pass on this game though, since he finally grew a pair arguing that outrageous blown call in the 5th (I believe). Those who say that it’s too early to rag on Willie are right, but fear not fellow Willie-haters! He’ll give us a ton more reasons to call for his head before the season is through. Putting in Wise instead of Feliciano in the 10th of the second game of the Marlins series was merely the first in a long series of asinine moves he will make!
so, pretty much whenever a team beats us, it will be willie’s fault. either, he shouldn’t have started someone, or shouldn’t have gone to the pen, or shouldn’t have left someone in, or shouldn’t have bunted, or shouldn’t have pitched out, or shouldn’t have double switched, or should have double switched, or should have farted louder on the bench.
Charlie, well said, and funny, too.
thank you, i’ll be here all season.
I was mainly talking about why I would not have bunted Reyes. I didn’t even say it was Willie’s call. I explicitly gave Willy a pass for this game. The goats of this game are John Maine and our 1st ,2nd , and particularly 3rd hitters, not Willy.
That said, I’m definitely a critic of Randolph. It took me awhile to get there; I used to like him also, and he seems like a decent guy, but he’s one of the last guys i want coaching my team. One of many reasons is for moves like putting your last reliever (Wise) in a crucial spot in extra innings when you had two of your best relievers (Wagner and Feliciano) available and (if I recall correctly) the heart of the order coming up. But that was an aside. It was not the point of my post.
It’s not about blaming Willie for the loss every time we lose. If we lose becuase someone makes a mental error on the field, or someone doesn’t give it there all down the line on a ground ball it’s frustrating. The same thing when a manager puts the team in a bad situation. It’s not the fact that we lost, it’s the fact that we were put in a situation where it was more likely we would lose. That’s what is so frustrating.
I can’t believe how naive some of you are. The 10th inning against the bottom of the order that is all RH and you want one of our best LHP to come in? When the next inning if needed would be mostly LH hitters? How does that make sense? If Wise is going to be on the team, he has to pitch there. And he pitched very well until he left one up after being squeezed.
Get over yourself.
“allowed” a lot of foul balls?
sometimes i doubt your baseball knowledge, cerrone. what the hell does that even mean?
wow, dude. you don’t know what that means? and, you call out cerrone’s knowledge?
it means: throwing pitches that the hitter is able to foul off, instead of either swinging and missing or swinging and putting the ball in play.
having played competitive baseball through HS, I can tell you that the most frustrating thing a pitcher can do to a hitter is force you to swing at what is going to be a strike but is in a place in the zone where you have trouble doing anything but grounding weakly out or popping up. when a pitcher is on, he is able to do this. when he is not, he “allows” the hitters to brush off pitches that are strikes, but not the hitter’s pitch by fouling them off until they get a pitch that is in their happy zone that they can drive.
that is what allowing hitters to foul off pitches means.
I’m going to argue semantics here, and say Cerrone probably shouldn’t have used the word “allow”
Maine wasn’t “allowing” guys to foul pitches off, he just didn’t have his stuff today, and the foul balls were an effect. There are very few batters who can consciously foul pitches off at will whenever they please, although it happens occasionally.
i disagree. batter do foul off pitches on purpose. that’s the difference between playing HS, college, minors and the bigs. at the highest level, hitters are there because they can control the strike zone in addition to having the hand/eye coordination to hit the nasty pitching at that level. haven’t you heard the announcers say that a particular hitter has “spoiled” a pitch? that’s what it means. it was going to be a strike, it was in a location where the hitter could do very little but hit it weakly, and the hitter was able to foul it off, hence spoil the pitcher’s attempt to get them out. when a pitcher is not on, hitter’s can spoil more pitches than usual.
i don’t think it’s an argument over semantics, i really believe matt used the word appropriately.
but, let’s agree to disagree because in the end, it’s all about one thing: LGM.
Maine just couldnt put anybody away. When he was up he couldnt put the hitter away, and when he fell behind he did not have any control or belief in his stuff. Im sure the rain and being pushed back a day had something to do with it because he looked lost out there. The offense was not on today, but then again hudson pitched very well today. Do not let me get started on sosa…………I wonder if the umps got that call right would this had been a different game but w/e at least they got together and got the call right. Maybe carlos will get his wish with instant replay..(doubt it but hey it would have helped there). Lets put this behind us and lets hope santana can lay the smackdown and we can split this series.
All the people saying “this is 1game” or complaining about the over analyzing clearly have not followed the Mets over the last few seasons.
The mistakes Willie made today are the same ones he’s made since day 1. He has not grown as a manager and he makes decisions that someone who has been involved in the majors for over 30 years should not make.
He seems to be complacent with his pedestrian managerial skills and certainly showed complaicency as a leader last season. He fiddled as Rome burned all around him.
One game absolutely makes a difference, look at what happened last year.
I don’t think we should get up in arms over one loss, but your points about Willie are dead on.
What went on today wasn’t a one time thing. These are persistent issues many have had with Willie for the last two years.
But hey, what do I know… Willie’s a “professional.” Everything he does must be right because he has so much experience in the game. When it doesn’t work out, it must be because the player didn’t execute. Because, ya know, Willie’s a professional and never makes a bad decision.
I think instead of allowing us to vote on witch song gets played during they 8th inning, how about letting us vote on which reliever Willie bring into the 8th inning?
Great idea…I think we could do a better job than Wee Willie Randolph could.
Randolph should be given 3 lifelines at the beginning of every game.
LOL, as long as he doesn’t pick Joe Torre for the phone a friend!
Hmmm, this raises a good question. Who should his phone a friend be?
How about Wally Backman? :)
John Smoltz???? Can we resign Shawn Green for just one game and then release him?
I never get on Willie because I think he motivates the team and is the right kind of manager for this team. However, today was not one of his best games as a manager. As it has been stated above plenty of times, how do you let Gotay hit from the left side of the plate and why was Sosa pitching to Johnson? I mean, I was speechless watching it and am still scratching my head. Unless there is something we don’t know, I want to know from Willie why he did what he did? I hope M&MD ask him on the weekly report.
I think Cox brought in Gotay because Smith had started the inning. But you’re right, the braves bench only has 2 legit hitters. Johnson and Gotay. So if Show started that inning, who knows. But I hate the Show vs Escobar matchup.
Eh, I can’t kill him for the pitching matchups. Gotay is a good hitter, but I’m not burning a reliever to pitch to him.
As for leaving Sosa in to face Johnson, I don’t have a problem with him facing Johnson per se… my bigger problem was leaving Sosa in after he loaded the bases.
The problem is, why was Joe Smith being stretched out and Jorge Sosa being used as the situational righty? That seems completely backwards to me. Otherwise, I’d probably have done what Willie did. You bring Sosa in during the 5th, hope you can stretch him through the 6th. If you can’t bring in Show, then go to Smith to get the right handed bottom of the order out.
It’s only the 4th game. Maybe Willie wanted to see how Smith did in extended duty. What would happen if Sosa couldn’t go and the Mets needed a guy to give them innings?
Sosa’s splits actually show he probably would be a very effective situational pitcher. That and the fact he could just throw that slider over and over.
If you look at Sosa’s 2007 splits his WHIP and BAA versus left handed hitters is 1.89 and .326 respectively while against right handed hitters it is 0.97 and .202. It should be clear that he is essentially a ROOGY and should not have been allowed to face Johnson. Lifetime Johnson (although it is a very small sample set) has a 1.000 OPS against Sosa.
Gotay is not good enough to burn two relievers to open an inning. You bring in Show there and who pitches to the next guy (Escobar).
As for Sosa pitching to Johnson, that was a bad move that I am sure Willie learned from. Sosa is not the guy to pitch when he gets HIMSELF into trouble. Especially not in Atlanta.
where was pedro feliciano? a manager’s job is to think 4 to 5 hitterers down the road, he must have known that johnson was on the bench!!!!!!!!!
i continue to ask the question: would willlie have been re-signed last year if he didn’t have a contract?
Willie does provide a buffer for Omar. If the Mets get off to a bad start Omar can fire Willie and deflect the blame (see Isaiah Thomas and Larry Brown).
but the team will be bad, i’m not saying willie has to go but since last year i have no confidence in him
Ok, lets come back to this post in September. Is it legal to bet on here? You actually think this team will be bad?
Willie has this infatuation with Sosa much like he did early last year with Julio Franco. Perfect example: the last week in Florida when Wagner wasn’t available. Sosa is not that good of a reliver. Sosa’s role should be the Darren Oliver role. If a starter has a bad night Sosa should come in and eat up 3 or 4 innings trying to keep us in the game.
Willie is lost when it comes to managing the bullpen. To have Sosa start the 7th inning was a bad decision in itself, Wise would have been a better option. The fact that Sosa EVEN faced Johnson was an absolute joke. The game was 5-3 and the Braves bullpen is not very good how can Feliciano not be in the game there? Feliciano is probably our best reliever, especially against lefty’s.
Willie is also to blame for Gotay being a Brave. Willie never liked Gotay and his excuse was his defense. Maybe someone can help me but does anyone remember Gotay losing a game last year because of his defense? I can’t!!! I think Gotay could become a servicable outfielder if needed along with a guy that could play 2B, SS, and 3B. Would you rather have Gotay or Brady Clark on your roster???
My patience in Willie is running thin.
Brady Clark, he can hit LHP. Gotay can’t field or hit LHP.
As for Sosa, if Willie had put in Wise and he had given up the runs you would have still complained. That is why Willie does not care at all what fans think. He is the manager, sometimes he gets it wrong sometimes he gets it right. However, I will guarantee that he gets it right more times than you would. Just face it, he is an average manager and you are a below average wanna be.
correction on my previous post:
In the first paragraph it states last week when Wagner wasn’t available. I meant last year in Florida in the game we lost after Marlon Anderson had the big pinch hit double and Sosa blew the game.
This game epitomizes the reason that instant replay is necessary. Luckily, the call eventually went the right way, but nonetheless, it shows that instant replay should be part of the game.
After a game like this, leadership is needed to get the team ready for a fresh, positive start on Sunday.
Since we basically gave no manager (”these guys are professionals, they know what to do”, yawn) hopefully Santana will fill this obvious void and bring a sense of urgency to winning on the field; not just reacting…
…basically HAVE no manager
so sorry, it’s early
I am pretty sure Willie showed a lot of urgency yesterday when the umps blew the call. Or pitch hitting for Maine so early in the game.
Some fans are rediculous with Willy. Its april, you can’t win every game, we got Johan smoltz tommorow, lets sit back and enjoy todays game