Daily Archives: July 16, 2009
The Mets (42-45) open up the second half of their season with a four game series against the Braves (43-45) tonight at Turner Field.
Angel Pagan will leadoff and be in center field, followed by Luis Castillo, David Wright, Gary Sheffield, Jeff Francoeur, Daniel Murphy, Alex Cora. and Brian Schneider.
Oliver Perez (2-2, 8.78 ERA) will start for the Mets. Perez made his return to the big leagues against the Dodgers last week and earned the victory despite throwing just five innings and allowing seven walks. This is Perez’s first outing against the Braves in 2009 but pitched to a 3.72 ERA in 19 1/3 innings against the Braves last year with no record.
Derek Lowe (8-7, 4.39 ERA) will start for the Braves. Lowe has seen his ERA rise from 3.44 to where it is today since June 9 and he has lost five of his last eight decisions. In his last ten starts Lowe has averaged just over 5 2/3 innings per start.
Omar Minaya held a conference call today to update reporters on the Mets’ injuries.
…update, 3:07 p.m…
Minaya confirmed that the Mets will activate Angel Berroa.
…update, 3:10 p.m…
Jose Reyes had “a good day today” in Port St. Lucie and is “showing much improvement” according to Minaya. Carlos Delgado is swinging the bat and fielding in Port St. Lucie and the Mets received a positive report on him.
An MRI on Carlos Beltran over the All-Star Break revealed the same bone bruise, but he is not yet running or hitting off a tee.
Fernando Martinez had an operation on torn cartilage in his knee two days ago, and Minaya does not expect him to return until September.
Minaya believes that John Maine could be pitching in game situations in a week to 10 days.
…update, 3:15 p.m…
Maine threw in “a simulated session” today and felt fine.
…update, 3:20 p.m…
Minaya said there’s a possibility that Maine and Reyes can return this month. He said for certain that Delgado will not return this month, and that Beltran’s status is unclear.
Tagged News |Ben Shpigel, in a post to Twitter, is reporting that Angel Berroa will replace Argenis Reyes, who was demoted to Triple-A Buffalo after Sunday’s game.
Berroa is at Turner Field for tonight’s game against the Braves.
On February 12th, I posted about my campaign to raise money this season for the American Cancer Society in honor of the five year anniversary of my father’s passing due to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
For every home run the Mets hit this season, I will be donating $5 to the ACS.
So far this season, I have raised nearly $3,000, due mostly in part to members of the Metsblog community, and for that I am extremely grateful.
I have an overall goal of raising $5,000, but I can’t reach it alone, especially with the Mets hitting only 52 home runs so far.
Please help me ‘Knock Cancer Outta Here!,’ and reach my goal before season’s end on October 4th. All contributions go to the ACS and will help to fund many cancer-related programs and research.
All the details are on my ACS sponsored site, so please go there for more information.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and Let’s Go Mets!
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
Charles Odum in today’s New York Post and David Lennon in today’s Newsday detail how the trade that brought Jeff Francoeur to the Mets unfolded.
According to Lennon, Omar Minaya credits Assistant-GM John Ricco with the idea during a “brainstorming session” last Thursday for coming up with the idea.
After this brainstorming session, according to Odum, Minaya introduced the idea to Braves General Manager Frank Wren, and shortly thereafter, the deal was complete.
For more, check out Lennon and Odum’s articles.
Tagged Ryan Church |
The Mets staggered to a 42-45 first half record, struggling primarily with injuries leading to a lack of offense, and poor fundamental play.
The team can ill-afford to endure another 5-15 stretch like they just went through.
If the Mets are to make any sort of run in 2009, at the very least they must overcome their issues with the fundamentals of the game, such as poor defense, bunting and bad base running.
It is not too much to ask that the second level players play fundamental baseball.
The turnaround must start tonight, and Oliver Perez can set the tone and get off on the right foot with a strong start against the Braves.
Perez can quickly atone for his early-season struggles if he can pitch the way he did in the second half of 2008 in which he was reliable, efficient, and at times dominant.
Despite its recent struggles, the bullpen remains a strong suit on this team, but if guys like Perez and Mike Pelfrey continue to be inconsistent, the bullpen will be futile down the stretch due to fatigue.
I do believe that the Mets will get something out of Perez this year, and while Pelfrey has been up and down for the most part this season, I am confident that this team, even if they only get back Carlos Beltran, will be in the hunt for a playoff berth in September.
Tagged News |
Shannon, over at Mets Police, believes that the Mets should retire number 8 in honor of Gary Carter and Yogi Berra.
…I completely agree, Shannon…The team has had so many greats and I am amazed that they have only one player number retired…17 for Hernandez comes to mind as well as retiring 36 for Koosman as they are both, in my mind, integral parts of the championships the team celebrates at every game on Citi Vision…
Paul at Mets Fans Forever, notes that nothing is ever easy for the Mets, but feels that overcoming the deficit in the standings is not unachievable.
John Koblin, in an article for the New York Observer, recaps Keith Hernandez sneezing on the air during last Saturday night’s game.
Finally, the Brooklyn Met Fan hands out his Mexism of the Month Awards.
