The Mets (43-47) play the finale of their four game series against the Braves (45-46) today at 6:00 PM EDT at Turner Field.
Angel Pagan will again lead off, followed by Luis Castillo, Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Jeff Francoeur, Jeremy Reed, Alex Cora and Brian Schneider.
Fernando Nieve (3-3, 3.03 ERA) will start for the Mets.
Javier Vazquez (6-7, 2.95 ERA) will start for the Braves.
Tonight’s game can be seen nationally on ESPN and heard on WFAN.
Hmmmm, pitch to David Wright, or
Intentally walk Wright and pitch to F-Core (and his .288 OBP).
Sure, we got the win yesterday with this formula and despite three DWright intentional walks, but the percentages do not lie.
This does not bode well.
Not now it doesn’t, no. Frenchy will have his hot streaks just as Wright does, and he will make some guys pay, but right now he just isn’t swinging the bat well. The fact that he has put up crazy numbers before, though, gives me room for optimism.
I like him much better when he is surrounded by guys like Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, and Wright. He has a LOT more protection, as does Wright. However, three of those guys are hurt and it remains to be seen whether they will play again this season. I think Francoeur would do fine in this lineup:
Reyes, ss
Francoeur, rf
Beltran, cf
Delgado, 1b
Wright, 3b
Pagan, lf
Castillo, 2b
Santos, c
(Sigh)….this is the “what might’ve been” season, though.
Why in the world would you bat F-Core 2nd? Switch Pagan and F-core and I’m good with that.
Because Francoeur is a fastball hitter, and with Reyes on base and Beltran/Delgado/Wright coming up, he’s going to get nothing but fastballs to hit.
I like Pagan in the #2 hole as well, but I’m still not buying the thought that a guy who has slugged .444 or better and driven in at least 103 RBIs twice in the last three years is “washed up.” His problem is in his head, and a change of scenery could fix him.
I think we need to fire HoJo first, though, because I don’t think he would do anything to help him either. Bring back Rick Down…he’ll get both Wright and Frenchy going great again.
I agree Hojo needs to be fired! But more fastballs is the exact thinking that got F-Mart put in that spot in the batting order and what did it do for him earlier this season…not much! It’s true that you see more fastballs in that spot but you need a guy that excells at getting on base in the 1 and 2 spots. That said, F-Core’s problem isn’t hitting the pitch, it’s recognizing what is a good pitch to hit and what isn’t! While I like F-Core and think the change of scenery will help him, the 2 spot in the lineup is not the place I want a guy who is trying to get it together at the plate.
You can’t compare a proven hitter to a 20 year-old rookie who has never seen a MLB curveball before. That’s nonsense.
And yes, his problem is recognizing which pitches are good to hit, which is why getting more good pitches plays right into his hands. What Jerry did with F-Mart was dumb, but not because of the reasoning behind it. Had it been a guy like Castillo or Pagan even who needed to see more fastballs, then I could see the move (maybe). But putting a rookie who was in way over his head into that spot was just not smart.
I’m not going to hide it: I’m in the minority on here because I think Francoeur can regain his 2006 & 2007 form again with the right teammates and hitting coach. You don’t just forget how to hit when you are 25 years old.
I wasn’t comparing the two players I was speaking to thinking behind putting players that are struggling in the 2 spot. F-Core even back when he was smoking the ball never had an OBP of more than .338. You need a guy that gets on at atleast .360 OBP clip for a player to have sucees in the 2 hole. That said again I agree with you that F-Core can come back,but the 2 Hole is not the spot for him.
I hope they give Wright 3 IBB’s and F-core hits 3 doubles, and when they finally do pitch to Wright …..he Homers!……..I know, Iknow wishfull thinking. lol
I guess Wright is ok, but at least maybe if something god forbid something does happen, Nieve will actually show a little concern, not like Santana, Mr Aloof to his teammates suffering.
Did you want him to run over there and kiss it for him or something? He was focused on his job, and he doesn’t need to worry too much about his fielders behind him.
David Wright is a big boy, and I think Johan knows that ;)
Its not a question of kissing it or being a big boy, its about being a teammate.
Any other Mets pitcher would have at least inquired, maybe he did in the dugout, but a little onfield support would have been nice.
My old man was at the game and I just asked him, and he said Johan just kinda looked at him like “You okay?” and Wright gave him a nod…
This team has much bigger problems right now, IMO, lol…
ok, sorry for the rant, but he really pisses me off sometimes with his hypercompetitiveness that seems to blind him to what is going on with his teammates.
He probably was more focused on getting the game going again, the delay would mess up his rhythm, lol
As a pitcher, that’s what would be going through my head. You work all game long trying to develop a rhythm, and any delay bugs the crap out of you. It’s not that you don’t care about your teammate, because you do, but if you lose your concentration (especially at the MLB level), the next pitch you throw will wind up in the cheap seats.
I’m sure he inquired in the dugout during the break, as all teammates do.
I’m sure, I didn’t see the game but i saw the sequence of pics and no teammates in sight and i was just surprised that no one came over, especially when the trainer comes out, but i guess they were all huddled in clumps with their fingers crossed behind their backs.
Superstition, maybe? Kind of like the same reason you don’t talk to a pitcher when he has a no-no going…remember, baseball players are weird like that!
What’s the Over / Under on how long before Sheffield is on the DL?
he needs to miss 4 games and then come in and pinch hit, be listed as day to day for another week and then they will send him to NY for a MRI but decide on the flight that he no longer needs the MRI, then put him on the DL 3 days later.
Sounds about right!
What’s the over/under on how long before our retarded medical staff diagnoses a player as being pregnant?
Actually if one of our players were pregnant, this staff wouldn’t diagnose it until the water broke.
lol
That one is easy! Robinson Cancel is already expecting! lol
Actually he already delivered his baby boy and we signed him to a 3-year, $15MM contract outside of the hospital. He’s going to report to Kingsport whenever he learns to walk ;)
We’d like to see Dave Kingman and Mookie Wilson combine their DNA somehow – we’ll leave that up to you – and have three sons, all pre-signed by the Mets.
I. Hate. Jerry. Manuel.
I swear to god, watching Manuel order a BUNT with a man on second and nobody out is just absolutely brutal. How does a man get paid these millions of dollars to run a baseball team while not knowing what the hell he’s doing?
Pathetic. Your #2 hitter should be able to swing for RF. Castillo is great at it, and gets a lot of hits doing that too. Second straight game we had the leadoff hitter on and gave them the first out of the game, and did not score.
… And now Nieve.
See you guys in 2010.
Figgy or Niese???
niese was about to get called up anyway. he’s been lights out in his last few starts at AAA. Maine si also on his way back. Nieve was on his way to the ‘pen anyway.
it sucks nieve got hurt but niese and figgy both pitched yesterday so either one just steps into nieve’s spot.
the problem is that the offense cannot score.
OMG!!! NFW !!!! Another pitcher on the DL!!! We need ROY.
“Need” is one thing.
“Able to get” is quite another. We have two chances of getting Halliday–”silm” and “none,” and “slim” pitches out on the West Coast.
We have WAGS and PUTZ plus a bunch of “prospects”, I think we have enough to get him.
Ummm . . . aren’t Wags and Putz on the DL?
Words absolutely fail me now. But, look at it this way–we’re closer to getting that 16-year old phenom in the draft! (As if that was ever going to happen . . . )
So of course, out goes the 2.95 ERA pitcher, in comes Tim 7.50 ERA Redding . And boom- a home-run
Maybe Selig will take pity on the Mets and force the Jays to deal Doc to the mets for prospects and (lots of) cash considerations??
one can wish, can’t i, after all the Knicks did get Ewing.
I wnat one of two things to happen here. Either the METS get hot and win 5 or 6 in a row and give the Phillies a run and overtake them on the last day of the season, or, we just crumble and lose the next 5 or 6 games and are done. Then I can watch a game and enjoy it, because, it dont matter anymore.
What exactly happened to Nieve?
Pulled his quad muscle badly running out a grounder. Pitched 1 inning..
I tried to give the rest of my season tickets to a local charity (hospital). They sent them back …. said their patients were sick enough.
If Obamacare goes through, they could be used to euthanize elderly people . . .
They can’t even get that miss called out at 2nd that every other team gets. The ump made the correct call on the error by Cora, but they almost never call it properly. Only for the Mets…
How soon can Redding be cut, Lugo be brought in, Nieve put on the DL, and Niese brought up?
Are you busy on Aug 12th?
This game is almost over (i.e. Mets cant score that many). A few more long innings by the Braves and this game may not end by 9:00 PM.
Interesting if ESPN just leaves the game for the ESPYs, since it would be most likely a blow out at that point.
if im not mistaken the ESPYs are taped from like wednesday or thursday so i dont think that would be a problem, i could be wrong but i believe its taped
Can someone tell me why the Mets’ trainers haven’t been fired yet? There’s obviously a problem with their workout and training programs, yet the same techniques are being utilized.
Sorry but it doesn’t work that way. Your correlation is flawed.
Overall the core team in general has been fairly healthy the past three years. Subtract Alou and the big toe guy, and The Mets were very healthy until this year.
Not only that, but the training programs in MLB are pretty much standard across the board. There are just so many ways to stretch large muscle groups. Unless the trainers are using alternate or holistic practices and treatment, you can’t blame the trainers for the initial injury.
This year is just plain bad luck, the Mets got bit by the injury bug, nothing more nothing less.
Now if you were to complain about the treatment and follow-up, I might lean towards the argument.
We just need to stop running around screaming “off with their heads”, and think things through with clear heads after the season. Then we can make any neccessary changes in the off-season.
THIS TEAM IS PATHETIC!!! ITS OVER