Daily Archives: August 30, 2009
Today in Port St. Lucie, Carlos Beltran ran the bases for the first time since June.
In order for him to increase his workload and return to the Mets, he will have to pass an MRI exam, which has yet to be scheduled.
Prior to today’s game in Chicago, Omar Minaya told reporters that Josh Thole will be promoted to the Mets in September.
Minaya did say that call-ups in general will be delayed until around September 6 due to the fact that the minor league teams are shorthanded.
…not that the big club has been playing shorthanded all year…
Jerry Manuel said before the game that Thole might be limited to facing right handed hitters.
…not sure I would agree with that either…I mean lets see what this kid can do without limiting his exposure, and keeping him healthy at the same time…
The Mets defeated the Cubs by the score of 4-1 this afternoon in Chicago.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
Nelson Figueroa was splendid this afternoon, pitching into the eighth inning and allowing just a run on six hits, and a career-best 10 strikeouts on the afternoon.
Figueroa helped his own cause with an RBI single as part of a two run fourth inning, which included an Anderson Hernandez triple.
The Mets knocked out Carlos Zambrano after slamming him for 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Angel Pagan added three hits to the Mets 12 hit attack.
Another weird defensive play that the Mets fell victim to came in the eighth inning when Milton Bradley cued one out to Luis Castillo who appeared to catch the ball but he attempted to make a play at first, and Bradley was called safe – luckily Brian Stokes was able to induce a 4-6-3 double play to avoid any damage.
Francisco Rodriguez earned his 236th career save.
Other Observations and Notes:
Is it autumn already? 57 degrees at game time at Wrigley Field.
Everyone in the starting lineup had atleast one hit for the Mets.
Luis Castillo plays a strange second base to say the least at this point, but he has had a fantastic year at the plate.
Jon Lovitz performed “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch, then did the play-by-play poorly in the bottom of the seventh inning and top of the eighth inning for WGN – he didn’t know that he was sitting next to Bob Brenly.
In the two wins on this road trip so far, the Mets have 29 hits and have scored 14 runs – in the four losses, they have 33 hits and 10 runs.
Up Next:
The Mets head to Coors Field in Denver for the opener of a three game series against the Rockies, with Mike Pelfrey facing a pitcher to be determined, Tuesday at 8:40 pm.
The Mets close out their series against the Cubs this afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Angel Pagan will lead off, followed in order by Luis Castillo, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Jeremy Reed, Fernando Tatis, and Brian Schneider.
Nelson Figueroa (1-3, 5.40 ERA) will start for the Mets. Figueroa has generally struggled since being recalled from Buffalo, but he pitched well in his last outing against the Marlins on Tuesday despite taking the loss. Lifetime he is 0-4 with a 4.40 ERA in nine career appearances, four starts against the Cubs.
Carlos Zambrano (7-5, 3.80 ERA) will start for the Cubs. It has not been the greatest of seasons for Zambrano, as he has struggled with his control for most of the year with 4.2 walks per nine innings. Lifetime he is 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in eight appearances, seven starts against the Mets.
David Wright has joined the Mets in Chicago this weekend, and says he feels good and is thankful the Mets were cautious in his comeback from a concussion he sustained two weeks ago when he was hit in the head by a Matt Cain fastball at Citi Field.
Wright told Tara Sullivan of the Bergen Record:
“I feel good. It’s been a slow, gradual process, meeting with a lot of doctors and doing a lot of tests…It’s been a gradual process, but in the end I’m thankful they kind of did it this way because it took it out of my hands and allowed me to recuperate the way I should, and not on my schedule, which probably was the wrong way.”
Wright is eligible to return from the disabled list on Tuesday when the Mets are in Denver.
For more check out Sullivan’s article.
In an article in today’s Daily News, Bill Madden discusses the Mets injuries this year and the increased rate of injuries throughout Major League Baseball.
Madden reports that the Mets have had 22 players on the disabled list which ties them with the Texas Rangers, and have lost players for a total of 1,095 days which is second to the San Diego Padres.
According to Madden, the average amount of players to go on the disabled list has risen dramatically from 14.2 in 1996 to 17.7 per team in 2008.
…i personally think that the Mets would most certainly be in some sort of pennant race if not for the injuries, despite their starting pitching being shaky coming into the season and the various other question marks that they had back in Spring Training…
…besides the apparent mis-management of these injuries and the fact that they have managed to go through their entire depth chart at the Major League level, a key reason for their fall from the top is that they never had the depth at any level to overcome something like this, whereas a team like the Texas Rangers seem to have been able to stay in their pennant chase…after all, the injury replacement pitcher for the past two years has been Nelson Figueroa, not exactly a David Price or a Tommy Hanson waiting in the wings…Nothing against Figgy, but a mid 30′s pitcher at Triple-A does not present depth in the farm system nor does it present a savior…
…i think it’s easy to say that they traded their young talent away for guys like Carlos Delgado and Johan Santana over the past few seasons, but this team is perhaps the second richest team in baseball despite the losses with Madoff, and they should have the resources to develop from within, but based on what we have seen, especially this season, player development has been lacking overall and teams that win all have players on the field that were developed in their Minor League system…
Tagged Michael Baron |
