Daily Archives: August 25, 2009
The Marlins defeated the Mets by the score of 2-1 tonight at Land Shark Stadium.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
Nelson Figueroa looked real good tonight, with a lot of movement on his cutter and good overall life on his fastball and he kept the Marlins generally off-balanced, but lasted only five innings and just 78 pitches.
Figueroa allowed only one earned run.
Both Daniel Murphy and Luis Castillo had defensive gaffes in bottom of the fourth inning, but the one that was most frustrating was Murphy and his error fielding the ball and inexplicably throwing to first, errant at that, allowing Hanley Ramirez to reach third and would eventually score when Castillo could not get the ball out of his glove on the potential 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
The Mets left the bases loaded in the fifth inning, squandering a big opportunity to do damage against Sean West who, despite control problems throughout much of the year, held the Mets at bay for six innings.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and had excellent movement on his off-speed pitches.
Another game and another injury – Gary Sheffield left tonight’s game early and at the time it was not clear as to what happened, but he left due to a cramp in his lower back.
Other Observations and Notes:
Day in and day out, once this team falls behind, they show no resiliency and no fight, and the fact that they seem to give up frustrates me more than losing and more than the bad pitching and more than the mental and physical mistakes they make.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Mets were 4 for 51 with two outs and the bases loaded on the year.
With the way he hit his two doubles, you would not know that Jeff Francoeur tore a ligament in his thumb – he hit both balls right on the screws.
I greatly appreciate Francoeur’s grittiness.
I would like to see Jerry Manuel leave a starting pitcher in for more than five innings and 78 or 80 pitches – Figueroa was solid and once again the Mets gave four innings to their bullpen – they cannot determine a player’s value if they aren’t going to utilize him to their maximum capability…I know that Figueroa doesn’t figure prominently in the plans for 2010 but Manuel should give him a chance at success as long as he is a member of the team…this happened Saturday night after a real solid start by Tim Redding was cut short at about 80 pitches and the bullpen was ineffective after that.
The Daniel Murphy project continues to fail before our very eyes, but I do sympathize with his situation to a degree considering he didn’t really know where he was going to play coming into Spring Training, he was moved to left field and was forced to humiliate himself, and then he was moved to first and although he hasn’t been horrible, he does look lost at times and makes poor decisions.
Murphy has also stayed healthy so far this year and has hung in there through thick and thin, which is admirable as well at this point.
The Next Game:
The Mets continue their series against the Marlins tomorrow night in Miami at 7:10 pm with Mike Pelfrey facing off against Josh Johnson.
JJ Putz was scratched from his rehab assignment in Single-A Brooklyn tonight.
According to Newsday’s David Lennon, in a post to Twitter, Putz has been shut down for the season as he is dealing with an issue in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right forearm.
…this is so ridiculous, i can’t even keep up… at this point, it would not shock me to see Mr. Met starting on the infield tomorrow…
update, 9:24 pm, by Michael Baron:
According to Brian Costa of the Star Ledger, Putz will not undergo surgery and he was shutdown as a pre-cautionary measure.
Tagged News |update, 9:12 pm:
Sheffield left tonight’s game due to a cramp in his lower back.
Original Post:
Gary Sheffield was removed from tonight’s game to an unknown injury after time was called in the top of the seventh inning.
Sheffield was escorted off the field by Jerry Manuel and trainer Ray Ramirez, and was replaced by Jeremy Reed as a pinch runner.
…i just don’t know what to say anymore…
Tagged News |
According to Boston Globe, one of the two players to be named in the Billy Wagner trade is 26–year-old 1B-OF Chris Carter.
Carter is batting .279 with a .340 OBP, 14 HR and 59 RBI this season for Triple-A Pawtucket.
Red Sox Monster says Carter is known for his ‘intensity,’ while Sox Prospects writes the following:
“Extremely intelligent, Carter is a real student of hitting, and has demonstrated success with the bat at every level. Excellent power with the potential for more. Hits for average and consistently gets on base at a very good clip. Hits lefties and righties well. Below average speed. In the field, Carter has spent much of his career at 1B but was moved to the outfield in 2008. He has always been known as a poor fielder, and still doesn’t look particularly comfortable at any position. He has focused on his glove and footwork and has improved slightly, but still not enough.”
The Sox acquired Carter from the D-Backs in 2007, during a trade involving Wily Mo Pena, and a three-way deal with the Nationals.
Tagged News |
The Mets open a three game series tonight at 7:10 pm against the Marlins at Land Shark Stadium in Miami.
…i wasn’t aware that they changed the name of that stadium again…where have i been…
Jeff Francoeur will return to the lineup after missing a game due to a torn ligament in his thumb.
Angel Pagan will leadoff, followed by Luis Castillo, Gary Sheffield, Francoeur, Fernando Tatis, Daniel Murphy, Omir Santos, and Anderson Hernandez.
Nelson Figueroa (1-2, 6.30 ERA) will start for the Mets. It hasn’t been pretty for Figueroa since being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo as he has allowed 11 runs and 28 hits in just 14 innings of work since August 3. Lifetime he is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA in six career appearances, two starts against the Marlins.
Sean West (4-5, 4.70 ERA) will start for the Marlins. Walks have been a challenge for West, as he has 30 in just 69 innings of work on the year. He is averaging just under 5 1/3 innings per start, but went seven innings and allowed just a run on four hits on May 29 against the Mets.
In case you missed it…
Billy Wagner was traded to the Boston Red Sox for two players to be named later. Early buzz is that one of the players is outfielder Chris Carter, who is batting .279 with 14 home runs and 59 RBI for the Pawtucket Red Sox this season.
Johan Santana will undergo season ending surgery to repair chips in his throwing elbow, but according to pitching coach Dan Warthen, this injury has nothing to do with the problems he had in February, as Omar Minaya says he knee was more of an issue at the time.
Minaya did say that Santana had his elbow examined around the All-Star Break, but there was nothing new found in his elbow.
Warthen said that the team did not shut Santana down at that time because he told management that he could pitch through the problem.
J.J. Putz was scratched from his appearance for Brooklyn tonight, and it is now not known whether or not he will pitch again in 2009.
Oliver Perez has returned to New York to have his knee re-examined.
Both Nick Evans and Pat Misch have been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo, and Misch will start on Friday if Perez is unable to pitch.
…there is a game tonight at 7:10 pm, against the Marlins in Miami by the way…
Tagged News |
Omar Minaya will hold a conference call at 3:15 p.m. to discuss the trade of Billy Wagner and the injury to Johan Santana.
The call will air live on SNY, but I will attempt to live-blog it here for those of you who can’t watch TV at work.
…updated, 3:20 pm…
Minaya announced the Wagner trade and said that shortly after they completed the trade, they got news that Santana will need minor arthroscopic surgery to clean up bone chips in his elbow. The Mets expect him to be ready for spring training.
Oliver Perez is going to New York to visit the doctor to examine his knee.
Nick Evans and Pat Misch will join the roster to replace Santana and Wagner.
The Mets decided to give J.J. Putz more time before starting his rehab, initially scheduled to begin tonight in Brooklyn.
…updated, 3:25 p.m…
Minaya says Santana had been examined at the All-Star Break but doctors saw nothing major in the elbow. He does not recall Santana’s elbow trouble from Spring Training.
Minaya says they wanted to give Putz more time after his last bullpen session, but did not say if Putz had any sort of setback.
…updated, 3:29 p.m…
Joel Sherman of the NY Post asked Minaya why he continued to let Santana start if he’s been hurting since the All-Star Break and skipping his side sessions.
Minaya responded that that’s why they’re shutting him down now. “Up until his last start, it was something that he was able to pitch with. After his last start, he said this to us, and we are, as you say, wisely shutting him down.”
…updated, 3:31 p.m…
Minaya says that Santana’s injury in Spring Training had more to do with his knee and that he wasn’t considered a risk at that time.
…updated, 3:32 p.m…
On the Wagner trade: “Billy, basically, had an opportunity to pitch in the pennant race and we were able to get two prospects for him, and we felt it was the right thing to do.”
Minaya has left a message for Santana but has not spoken with him yet.
Tagged News |
Johan Santana was examined today by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital For Special Surgery, and he will undergo minor elbow surgery which will end his season.
The procedure will involve cleaning up chips in his left elbow, and he is expected to recover in time for the start of Spring Training.
…on the one hand, i am happy that it is a minor problem and that this didn’t turn into a long term problem which would keep him out until next August, but i can’t help but wonder why the Mets, who have known about an elbow problem of some kind since February with Santana, why six months later this is being addressed and that they would even consider running the risk of a long term and potentially career changing injury…
…that said, the way this season has gone and the way the injuries have been handled to this point, i really am not surprised that this would happen…
The Brooklyn Cyclones, in a posting to their Facebook page, have announced that J.J. Putz will not make his scheduled rehab appearance tonight.
The reason for the change is unknown.
update, 1:45 pm:
Billy Wagner has been traded to the Red Sox for two players to be named later.
The Red Sox agreed to not pick up Wagner’s option for 2010, but still can offer him arbitration, thus compensating Boston if Wagner chooses to sign elsewhere in the off-season, which would be the likely scenario since he wants to close.
Wagner changed his tune as earlier today it was reported a deal would not happen but according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN Radio, he called his agent, Bean Stringfellow, and said “I’m going to throw caution to the wind and I’m going to go to Boston.”
…even though the Mets might not get anyone notable in return for Wagner, this makes all parties happy…It frees the Mets from any future obligation to Billy, it gives Billy the chance to win now, and Boston now has added a power arm to a beleaguered bullpen…
…personally i am sad to see Billy leave – I feel like he was a voice of reason and reality in the Mets clubhouse during good times and bad, and he owned up to his own struggles and you can’t ask anything more from a player…
…that said, there was no place in this bullpen for him – the Mets signed Francisco Rodriguez to replace him…they were not expecting him to come back, but he did and it was great to see that at least for now, he still has life on his fastball…
…good luck Billy…
Original Post:
David Lennon, in a post to Twitter, is reporting that Billy Wagner will soon be traded to the Red sox, and an announcement is coming soon.
…the deadline passes at 1:30 so i’m assuming that the trade is complete and details are being worked out…
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