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Braves:
David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, after giving up six runs on five hits over three innings of work, LHP Chuck James was optioned to Triple-A Richmond on Thursday.
At his blog, Talking Chop, Martin Gandy questions why James was given the start after pitching only two innings this spring, adding, “Does it scare anyone that this mix-n-match starter game we’ve already been playing is the same one we’ve played for the last two years?”
…you’re not alone, martin…Mets fans feel the same way about their fourth and fifth starters as well…
Quick Stat: The Braves bullpen is 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA in 33.0 IP and has allowed a National League leading 6 HRs this season.
Marlins:
RHP Ricky Nolasco will be making making his first start of season tonight after returning from elbow soreness. According to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Nolasco’s rehab including working on his change up, which the right-hander plans to use more this season.
Over at FishStripes, Craig is happy Nolasco “got the memo” regarding his use of the change up.
Quick Stat: The Marlins are last in the National League in ERA (5.49) and Quality Starts (2).
Nationals:
According to Ben Goessling of the Washington Times, RHP Chad Cordero should be activated from the disabled list this weekend. Cordero should help the struggling Nationals bullpen, which has blown three of the team’s four save opportunities.
…i know we as Mets fans tend to overreact about the team’s pitching staff, but as evident by the Braves and Nationals bullpens, no team is perfect…
At his blog, Oleanders and Morning Glories, Harper Gordek wonders if the Nationals are better off than they were one year ago.
Quick Stat: The Nationals 3-4-5 hitters are 6-for-43 (.140) with 1 RBI in their last four games.
Phillies:
Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Daily News isn’t convinced, after watching the Phillies three-game series against the Mets, if this budding rivalry lived up the off-season hype.
…within the first sentence of hayes’ piece he states the series produced “very little good baseball” and he is right, for the most part…i thought both teams showed a lot of intensity last night, which proved to me the hype of this rivalry has not been overstated…
Jason Weitzel of Beerleaguer recaps the Phillies-Mets series, or as he calls it, the “Eric Bruntlett Series.”
…the eric bruntlett series…well played, jason…on a side note, i thought Jose Reyes was out at the plate as well, but hey, i’ll take it…
Quick Stat: The Phillies are batting .217 with runners in scoring position, 32 points below the National League average of .249.
Reyes was safe.
he looked out to me, but I’ll take it.
that should have been a Metsblog poll…was Reyes safe or out?
It was literally simultaneous. And that’s in slow motion. At the angle the ump stood, he couldn’t see the tag hitting his back … and he called him safe.
If it were football with a challenge … they would have let the call on the field stand, because there was not enough evidence to overturn it.
exactly, mikey
I couldn’t agree more about the intensity of the Met/Phillies series, Mike. While I was very frustrated that Heilman allowed the tying runs to score, the following 3 innings were intense, pressure-packed baseball at its best. I have little doubt that these 2 teams will be fighting down to the wire.
The Braves I’m not so sure about.
braves will be there at least as long as the phils will…better overall lineup, better sps.
NO, no, you have it wrong…
These teams are perfect. It is only the Mets that stink and have gaping holes and other problems.
I know this is true, I read it on the internet!
And yes, tis is sarcasm…..
Eric Bruntlett series is an appropriate name. If PHI had just an average SS playing these last 2 games, let alone the league MVP (cringe) and the clear clubhouse leader, than I would say these games would have been a bit different.
Let’s realize something, folks. Mets were still out-hit in this past series and need to get the bats going. B/C they are about to play a very good offense this weekend.
True enough, in the 2 games the Phillies lost they were without one player expected to be active on their roster, Jimmy Rollins.
The Mets were without Moises Alou, Luis Castillo and Pedro Martinez. I don’t have any sympathy for the Phils.
yes….but the point is, the Mets still played at the same level of a team with Tanner Boyle at SS.
I get your point, I just disagree with it. I feel that the Mets were the team playing at a disadvantage, being down 3 key players as opposed to one. They “played at the same level of a team with Tanner Boyle at SS” with a career minor leaguer AAAA player starting in LF, an over the hill immobile former slugger at 2B who fielded his position adequately, unlike Mr. Buntlett (spelled incorrectly with purpose), and a #2 starting pitcher on the DL. Given this decided disadvantage against a reigning division champion, I am satisfied with the result if not the method, while also noting my calendar says 4/11, not 8/11. 1.5 games out of first, ahead of Philly and Atlanta, I am not pressing the panic button yet.
my assessment is an unemotional one. SO no one is pushing any panic button here.
hey…these guys just need to hit. that’s the only frustrating thing I see.
You’re right, the Mets were outhit. Maybe even out pitched, and they won the series. Imagine how much Philly would’ve been crushed had the Mets been playing on their game.
yes….but the point is, the Mets will not win too many games playing at that level.
Also worth noting that the Braves top prospect, Jordan Schafer, was recently busted for HGH use, and is gonna be suspended for 50 games.
Although he obviously had tenure, from reading the scouting reports, I do not think this guy is the best player…or even outfielder…the Braves have in their system. That honor would fall to a a guy with more speed, less power, and a bit more plate discipline (at least at the stage he was drafted at vis a vis where Schafer was at when he was drafted) taken last year named Jason Heyward. Fortunately for the Mets, Heyward is a few years off from making the Majors.
Yes, it’s true that all teams have problem bullpens. But with the NL’s largest budget, I expect the Mets to have one of the top bullpens in the league. Middle of the pack is not acceptable. At present their bullpen is probably about middle of the pack or slightly worse, being 9th in the NL in ERA and 11th in BAA. But it is too early to make a real judgment and perhaps with a little time they can work their problems out.
As for Reyes, I thought is was a tie, and tie goes to the runner. At any rate whatever it was, that’s the breaks. In terms of those umpire calls, you lose some, you win some.
it was a tie.
still, I would have loved to see Reyes bowl him over. In fact, it would have been safer choice for him. If you look at the play, I am actually shocked Reyes didn’t crack his ankle. Lucky.
Bullpen is horrible considering the dollars spent. Sure, losing Sanchez 2 years ago didn’t help. But that is really the only injury factor that plays a role here. The main reason is Omar’s decisions.
No reason why Chad Bradford is not a NY Met right now. The fact that he was shown the door due to dollars and term, and that Show got the EXACT dollars and terms a month or so later is mindboggling.
And don’t get me going to the decision to re-sign Mota last offseason. I can’t WAIT to see him tonight.
show me a bullpen that is good because the team spent a bunch of money on it, i just don’t see that anywhere. Bullpen’s are crapshoots and money seems to be the least important aspect.
darkstar, I’m going to use last year since this year is too early to make a judgment. Last year the Cubs had a better bullpen than the Mets and they signed 2 free agents the previous winter. My point is that money shouldn’t be a barrier to putting together a good solid bullpen for the Mets. I don’t care how they do it, with cheap rookies or expensive free agents. If you’re the Mets, just do it, because you can afford to.
I agree with Danny above who said the Mets should have brought back Bradford. They cheaped out on him, refusing to meet his price and years. Too bad because he was better than Show and Mota. And I predict he’ll be better than Show again this year.
So I’m not saying you necessarily have to spend money on the bullpen. Rather, just don’t let money ever be an object to putting together the best one you can every year.
It comes down to evaluating ballplayers too, and whoever recommended to Omar that they should sign Schoeneweis should be fired! (Half kidding.)
it was Willie that told him he should sign Show.
:)
Should read: “Rather, just don’t let money ever be a barrier to putting together the best …”
Now, now Danny, lets not get into that quagmire now. :smile:
Actually, I’m rather surprised you didn’t initially put the blame on Willie in your first post under mine!
While I’m sure the DH had something to do with it, Bradford “rewarded” the O’s by losing 7 games, allowing 17 more hits and 3 more walks in just 2.66 more innings, and raising his ERA just under 1/2 a run over his 2006 numbers with the Mets. I’m certainly not suggesting that Show or Mota panned out, but Bradford didn’t exactly set the world on fire either.
Carver….you may be surprised to read this….but I, in no way, would have blamed Willie if the Mets lost last night. I thought he managed the game well.
Gravedigger, Bradford’s ERA+ in 2006 is 150, and it’s 138 for 2007 … pretty close. In contrast, Mota’s ERA+ for 2007 is 74 (truly pathetic) and Show’s is 85 (almost as pathetic). You cannot compare the stats of a reliever in the AL East working in a hitters park and with the DH with his previous year in the NL East in a pitchers park and no DH.
Bottom line — Bradford was just so much better last year than Mota and Show and hot too far off his numbers for the Mets in 2006 when you adjust for league and park factors.
VC, that philosophy simply doesn’t work as a business model, nor as a guarantee of performance. There have been very few relievers who can guarantee performance…the pen is the best place on the roster to gamble from year to year, the most variable performances come in the pen. Choosing to dedicate $$ to pen flux v. regs (or bench) = $$ poorly spent. Guaranteeing relief pitchers 3 year contracts is, in this day and age, folly, unless they’re one of the exceptional few.
IMHO.
Jamie, sure it works.
Here’s the philosophy —
1) Put the best relief arms in your bullpen every year that you can afford. If you’re a large market team like the Mets, don’t let money be a barrier. If you’re a smaller market team, of course you’re going to be restricted, but a club like the Mets shouldn’t be.
2) When you come across a consistent reliever snap him up, as long as you can afford him. It’s nonsense when some say that relief pitching is a crap shoot every year. It may be for most relievers, but not for all. One such consistent reliever is Bradford. The Mets had a chance to sign him but didn’t.
3. Don’t sign crappy relievers to multi-year contracts. That includes Show whose numbers have almost always been bad.
If you follow those principles, like the Cubs did, then you have a much better chance to build a strong bullpen.
VC, Chad was a mistake. No doubt. But then you say “It’s nonsense when some say that relief pitching is a crap shoot every year. It may be for most relievers, but not for all”…which is exactly what I said. For Most. I agree that chad was a mistake wholeheartedlty (and certainly Show). But signing relievers to long term contracts at any cost doesn’t make sense, unless they’re one of teh small group of consistent performers…and there’s competition for those guys’ services. Are you saying sign them at any cost, even if another club is offering ridiculous money? There are only a handful of guys in the league that are worth that gamble, or that are even available any given year.
and every team has a budget…wouldn’t you rather spend the extra 6 mil for reliever x on Santana?
And btw, darkstar, so far the Cubs have a better bullpen than the Mets this year too.
the mets won the season series against the phillies in 2005 and 2006. the mets were 6-5 against the phillies last year until they fell apart the last 5 weeks of the season.
the phillies don’t have the mets number. even the marlins and nats beat the mets down the stretch. 2006 the mets are 2-1 vs the phillies.
they’re talking a lot for a team that had 2 good series against the mets then got sweep. they get full credit for winning, but let’s relax with the great phillies. it’s hardly like atlanta years back who we sweep out of the playoffs last year, by the way.
*2008: 2-1 that is
Actually, it was the E-Bruntlett series, as in Error-Bruntlett
Could last night’s call be the baseball gods way of making up the little roller that Rowand hit that Lo Duca and Wright waited to go foul? Or atone for the Marlon Anderson take out slide?
and wouldn’t we rather have the gods on our side as opposed to relying solely on Willie’s in-game decisions?
I think a little divine intervention is a near must.
Eh I feel like comparing us to our division rivals is kind of pointless. I know we have to win the division to get there, but this is a team that should have world series aspirations, not play-off team aspirations. We shouldn’t just look at where our team stands in terms of the other teams in our division, which are kind of a mess, but in terms of the top teams in NL and in MLB in general.
Well I shouldn’t say it’s pointless, but it doesn’t really make me feel any better about our team.
Playoff aspirations and world series aspirations are the same thing. You play to make the playoffs, that is your goal. You dont start the season thinking about winning a world series. You start the season thinking about your division and making the playoffs. They are too much of a crapshoot once you get in. Winning a ring is nice, but making the playoffs is the ultimate goal in your season because the best team doesnt always win in a short series. If you expect a ring every year you will be let down. Just make it to the playoffs and see what happens.
Just for example, I will take a team that makes the playoffs 10 times in a row with random results in those 10 playoffs over a team who is gaurunteed to win it once in 10 years, and not gaurunteed to make the playoffs.
You cant blame a GM once a team gets to the playoffs because thats all you can really do. If the playoffs were a 40 game roudn robin tournament against the rest of the NL and a 15 game series against the winner of the AL, the best team would usally win but this just isnt the case. Too much can happen over a 7 game series to say world series or bust on any given year.
“and not gaurunteed to make the playoffs.”
in the rest of the 10 year period that is.
Comparing yourself wit teams outside your division is pointless. The Rockies went to the WS last year and were probably the 7th or 8th best team in the NL realistically. Look at us against the cards in 06.
Bullpens are a crapshoot year to year. There is literally no possible way to gauruntee having a good bullpen. You can literally hace the 5 best closers and the best specialists in your bullpen and it is not gaurunteed to be good. Its just how it is.
Eric Bruntlett is getting killed here. What about the 19 walks or the other 7 errors the phillies made that day. People who tell me the Phillies would have beat us with Rollins… I dont want to hear it. One player doesnt mean as much in baseball. It isnt like the Lakers playing without Kobe Bryant. And guys miss games, it happens.
“One player doesnt mean as much in baseball.”
Should have said dont mean as much in a given game, over the course of a season is a different story.
Hold on! Jason Stark told me the Braves incredible, championship-caliber depth could be summed up by having the GREAT Chuck James as a 6th starter. He TOLD me this, right on the air, right after he told me Mike Hampton was flashing 1999 form!
And THAN, Peter Gammons agreed with him, with a wink and a crypt-keeper smile.
So what gives?! Are Hampton and James NOT carrying the Braves back to greatness?
Don’t forget that John Kruk then proceeded to eat Stark….
seriously…that is the most irrelevant show on the planet. I can’t believe they have these guys as credible analysts.
When Harold Reynolds was canned, Baseball TOnight became a minor league project.
Hey easy, those guys are expert analysists. They say so all the time on sportscenter
i can write a novel on my gripes with ESPN. what a complete travesty!!
Disney is to blame. They love their icons and branded characters and personalities.
Considering that icon culture that now owns ESPN, it is clear to me what ESPN has become. Seriously….Berman, Stuart Scott, Dick Vitale, John Kruk, the COld Pizza crew…..they are the practically the 7 dwarfs. Morons….but famous. And I’m being serious….Disney PURPOSELY does this.
ESPN is seriously like watching a cartoon. It’s a pixar pictures production.
yeah, i gave up on espn a few years ago…it’s all about marketing now…the sports are just a way to suck you in
I agree about ESPN. They are a travesty. Why John Kruk (especially…you could also argue about Steve Phillips, too, of course) even has a job is beyond me. The last guy with any semblance of competence they still employ is Rob Neyer (he’d be one of my favorite baseball writers, Reyes comment aside; the guy made things that were alien to me like VORP, WARP-3, FRAA, and especially BABIP seem much easier to grasp)…and he writes an insider column on sabermetrics for them.
Reyes
Pagan
Wright
Beltran
Delgado
Easley
Church
Casanova
Figueroa
Nice to see Casanova get a crack…when is Castro due back? Is he even rehabbing? Nothing is being said about him.
last night they mentioned this on the broadcast (that no one had said a thing about castro). Kevin Burkhardt was going to check on it and report back this evening.
I’m loving Pagan in the 2 hole. Exciting, makes things happen, and goes 110% all the time. He puts the ball in play just as much as the less fiery Castillo, and has better wheels. I think they should keep him there until Moises comes back…then he’s outta luck Chuck.
I like Moises, but this guy is really playing with some passion, which is what our team needs. FIRE!! And that’s what Willie doesn’t bring. I like Willie, but if we had to change, it should be somebody with fire!! One thing I loved about Valentine—-his fire!
Parody?
right, and if he sustains it over a couple hundred ABs, I might think about agreeing
Pagan might really be upping his trade value. Some team might part with a part we need to get him. It would be nice to be able to snag even a league-average 2nd baseman–or to steal a nice young 2B prospect–from a GM who is too easily swayed by small sample sizes and allows his decisions to hinge on vagaries like “fire” and “grit”.
Of course, this would be booting a player I like and who has done much to help us win after 20 games, which is rather cold-hearted. But if the purpose is for the organization to win than trading Angel high with a few more pieces might be the way to go, if any GM is foolish enough to take the bait.
Of course, Castillo’s contract has to be eaten, since the one GM dumb enough to sign him unfortunately happens to work for our team.
“part with a part”…whoops…part with a piece maybe.
I love what I’ve seen, and his youth. I have no problem at all riding this out, since Alou will be out til ??? Pagan has, according to PECOTA, the biggest breakout rate on teh team…I don’t mind giving him the time to at least check it out. I don’t want him going anywhere for, like I said, a couple hundred ABs. I don’t know who we could get that would equal his potential/value/cost/performance…I’d be pretty choosy, at this point, about who
i dealt him for. But I hope he is what he looks like, and that we keep him. Love how he works.
Point well taken. I’m wary of his history. The man has a .280 average and a .330 OBP in the minors and he’s almost 27 years old. He has never broken an .800 OPS in any full year he’s played.
However, if you look at his stats on the Baseball cube you find something interesting. Pagan, as soon as he’s promoted goes on a furious tear. When promoted to A+ he bats .400 for 12 games. Then over a full A+ season, he hits .240. Binghamton same story. He breaks .800 OPS over the first 12 games, then he regresses to his mean over a full season.
We’ve been here before with him.
My heart loves him, but my head tells me to shop him around. If we can get something nice for him, I’ll go for it. The odds still are on Pagan being Endy Chaviez minus the ++ defense.
Great point. I brought it up, and after reading I can see value in both riding it out for 100 ABs….as I write this, he just smacked a 1 out hit v the Brewers—NICE—at the same time, if it requires giving him up while his value is high to get something we may need a bit more, like bulpen help, then I would lean toward winning NOW!! It’s been too long for me since ‘86. Tough call either way….easier for us GMs behind the keyboards to say, and I guess that’s why we arent in Omars chair. BTW, ball in the dirt—Pagan hustles to second! Gotta love it even if it only lasts 20 games!!!
both you guys, agreed. see it, and same: head v. heart…we shall see
Interesting to see James demoted already. The guy is either in a groove or in a rut almost every time he goes out. Funny thing though is he’s been declining. Also glad to see Ricky Nolasco off the DL. We usually pound the guy when we face him.
if the bullpen has blown 3 of 4 of washington’s saves, who blew the other one? the opponent’s bullpen?