Daily Archives: August 8, 2009
The Mets (51-58) continue their four game series tonight against the Padres (46-65) at Petco Park.
Bobby Parnell will make his first Major League start tonight, and he will be limited to 60-70 pitches during his outing.
Angel Pagan will lead off, followed by Alex Cora, David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Cory Sullivan in left field, Fernando Tatis at second base, and Brian Schneider.
Opposing Parnell will be Mat Latos (3-1, 2.66 ERA) for the Padres.
Again, John Maine will begin to play catch in Port St. Lucie on Monday.
In addition, Luis Castillo should be returning to the lineup Sunday, while Gary Sheffield remains a question mark as he continues to nurse a sore hamstring.
Bobby Parnell will make his first major-league start tonight, when the Mets take on the Padres at 10 pm.
Parnell had been 2–3 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP in 45.2 innings in relief this season, while striking out 38 batters.
Parnell, who pitched as a starter in the 
minor leaguers, told reporters that being a starting pitcher in the major leagues is a dream come true.
First off, this is a necessary move – especially considering the state of the season, and knowing the team will only have around $20 million to spend on new acquisitions in the off season – and so, if they’re going to need a starting pitcher, and they will, if not two, it would be nice to know how parnell might fit in to those plans.
The popular concern seems to be whether he will rely on his fastball as a starter in the same way he did as a reliever. The thing is, he apparently has a very good slider, and he’s been working on a splitter. However, he rarely gets a chance to throw them, always being aggressive in relief. So, it will be interesting to see how he works in these additional pitches, especially during the second time through the batting order.
Tagged Robert Parnell |
According to the Daily News, the Mets acquired 29–year-old OF Jason Dubois from the Cubs.
Dubois had been hitting .302 with a .390 OBP, 32 extra base hits and 50 RBI in 91 games in Triple-A this season.
He’s hit .233 in 210 career at bats, while playing for the Cubs and Indians, though he has not been in the major leagues since 2005.
He has played left and right field, and one game at first base.
Tagged News |
Update, 8:01 am:
Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes the White Sox are likely the team who claimed Blue Jays OF Alex Rios.
Update, 5:37 pm:
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says a high ranking team official assured him the Mets did not claim Rios.
Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus writes, “Lots of speculation that it was the White Sox that claimed Rios. I have no idea.”
Original Post:
Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes a team put in a waiver claim on Blue Jays OF Alex Rios, who is batting .261 with 39 extra base hits, 19 stolen bases and 58 RBI in 105 games this season.
The Mets lost to the Padres by the score 6 to 2 in San Diego last night.
For a recap and boxscore, go here.
The Least You Should Know:
Oliver Perez looked outstanding, as did Brian Stokes, but a blown play at the plate with Francisco Rodriguez on the mound allowed the game to be tied at two, which was followed by a walk-off grand slam by Everth Cabrera.
Etc., Misc., and Other Observations:
K-Rod has allowed 16 runs in his last 18 innings pitched, and blown back-to-back saves. His fastball is just not right, there is little difference to his change-up, and he has no command of his slider. I have no idea if it can be connected to the lack of consistent work, or something else; but tonight he walked the ninth inning’s leadoff hitter in a one-run game, then served up an 84–mph BP fastball, that was ripped in the corner setting up the play at the plate.
The ump blew the call at the plate, in the most important time of the game – a play at the plate, in a one run game in the ninth inning. I mean, if you’re not gonna get this call right, in a moment like that, why bother. Jeff Francoeur did a great job of staying cool, and playing the ball off the wall, then tossing a rocket to Anderson Hernandez, who did a great job of turning the throw to Schneider. Kyle Blanks slide hand first, Schneider grabbed the wide relay throw, lunged to the plate, and got his glove and ball to block Banks’s hand, but the ump disagreed. Manuel then walked the bases loaded, brought in Pagan to be a fifth infielder, but it didn’t matter, as Cabrera hit a bomb to end the game.
Hat’s off to the Oliver Perez, though, who looked as good as I’ve ever seen him. He switched up his delivery, too, adding a slight hesitation to the top of his full wind up. His arm slot was consistent, and he threw strikes.
Despite that five-game winning streak, the Mets have had no offense, and these last two games have been painful. Any rally is immediately stifled with a weak pop up or a double play.
The Mets have lost seven of their last nine games.
In Case You Missed It:
To watch SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel and analysis from Ron Darling, see the video player in the sidebar of MetsBlog.com.
The Mets continue their four-game series against the Padres tonight at 10 pm, with Bobby Parnell getting his first major-league start.
