Author Archives: Ted Berg
The Mets are holding a conference call at 3:30 p.m. ET to introduce Paul DePodesta, their new Vice President of Player Development and Amateur Scouting. I’ll be on the call and live blogging it here.
The Mets fell to the Giants, 2-0, tonight at AT&T Park in San Francisco. With the loss, the Mets fell to 48-41 on the season.
For a full recap and box score, check out SNY.tv.
The least you should know:
- R.A. Dickey pitched effectively and efficiently, limiting the Giants to one run on five hits and one walk over seven innings while throwing only 96 pitches.
- Carlos Beltran played his first Major League game of the 2010 campaign and went 1-for-4 with a single, a fly out and two groundouts. After the single, he was caught stealing on a great throw by Buster Posey with Ike Davis swinging.
- Beltran didn’t get many chances in the field, but there did appear to be a bit of a communication breakdown on a deep fly to left-center that Jason Bay ultimately shagged in the fourth inning.
- The Mets couldn’t muster much offense against Tim Lincecum, who is very, very good at pitching. Lincecum threw his first shutout of the season, allowing six hits and one walk while fanning five.
The game ball:
Goes to Dickey for pitching well enough to win.
Up next:
The Mets face the Giants again tomorrow. The game was originally scheduled for a 10:15 p.m. ET start but was pushed back to 10:35 because of a pre-game ceremony to honor Giants broadcaster Jon Miller. Jon Niese will start against Barry Zito, who co-hosts a radio show called “The Unicorn Hour.”
In a conference call with reporters today, Omar Minaya said Jose Reyes will need 2-8 weeks until his thyroid levels stabilize and he can resume baseball activities.
According to Minaya, Reyes will not need medication and the condition should not recur as long as he makes adjustments to his diet.
He said Reyes could miss Opening Day, but he has confidence in Alex Cora and Ruben Tejada.
To read details from the conference call, click below:
The Mets beat the Braves today, 4-2, in Port St. Lucie in the Grapefruit League opener.
For a full box score, click here.
Nelson Figueroa started for the Mets, launching his campaign for the fifth spot in the team’s rotation. He was not perfect, allowing two hits and two walks over two innings, but struck out the side in the second inning to work his way out of a jam and exited without allowing a run.
Elmer Dessens replaced Figueroa in the third and promptly allowed a run on two hits, the second of which hit him in the leg and knocked him out of the game.
Non-roster invitee Bobby Livingston, a left-hander with an impressive chinstrap beard, relieved Dessens with one out in the third and tossed 2 2/3 effective innings, striking out four and earning the win.
Ike Davis lined a double off Jesse Chavez to start a three-run rally in the fifth inning. Fellow youngster Ruben Tejada added an RBI single in the frame.
In the eighth, middle infielder Russ Adams hit a monstrous (albeit likely wind-aided) blast to right-field to cap the Mets’ scoring.
Ryota Igarashi made his first game appearance with a scoreless ninth, earning the save.
Four Mets farmhands cracked BA’s Top 100 this year: Jenrry Mejia at No. 56, Ike Davis at No. 62, Fernando Martinez at No. 77 and Wilmer Flores at No. 88.
According to Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker (via Nikkan Sports), 18-year-old Japanese lefty Yusei Kikuchi will meet with the Mets, as well as six other MLB teams, later this month.
Thanks to MLB Trade Rumors for the link, and for more on Kikuchi, check out Newman’s breakdown here.
Tagged News |The Mets beat the Marlins today, 4-0, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The least you should know:
Pat Misch was a little shaky at first, but kept the Marlins off the board and settled down to throw the first complete-game shutout of the season for the Mets.
Jeff Francoeur provided most of the offense, going 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and two runs scored.
Anderson Hernandez added a home run, and Wilson Valdez tallied three hits — two of which didn’t leave the infield.
Other observations and notes:
I’ve heard of the Good Ollie and the Bad Ollie; was this another sighting of the Good Pat Misch?
Misch credited the defense behind him after the game, and rightfully so. The Mets turned a huge 1-6-3 double play to get Misch out of a jam in the fifth, and Francoeur reached over the fence to rob Chris Coghlan of a home run in the seventh.
Misch did not allow a hit after the fifth inning.
The Mets used only nine players in the game, allowing David Wright to take a full day off after last night’s baserunning mishap.
Tagged News |The Mets defeated the Nationals, 6-2, in Citi Field today.
For a full recap and boxscore, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
John Maine looked good, holding the Nats hitless through four innings. He got out of a two-hit jam in the fifth and finished the day with his first win since May.
Daniel Murphy provided the offensive firepower with a triple, a double and two RBIs. Angel Pagan had three hits, and Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo added two apiece.
Misc., Etc., and other Stuff:
Maine only struck out one batter, but he yielded pop-up after pop-up. He might have been a little gassed by the fifth, though, and left after 75 pitches.
Josh Thole had a single and two walks in the game. Keith Hernandez noted that Thole seemed to be getting better at laying off the high fastballs he’s had trouble with early in his MLB career.
Wilson Valdez flashed his strong arm on a nice play in the hole, plus added a two-run triple later in the game. The guys in the booth pointed out that Valdez has made a good case for returning next season as the backup middle infielder, thanks to his strong defense at short.
I appreciate that Gary Cohen was providing constant Jets updates throughout the game, but a) some of us were trying to juggle the games on TiVo and b) it’s just a tiny bit depressing.
Elmer Dessens has quietly been pretty good for the Mets.
The game ball:
Goes to Maine, for rewarding all of us who watched the Mets instead of or in addition to football with a well-pitched win.
Tagged News |The Mets beat the Cubs, 4-2, today at Citi Field.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
Whatever demons Mike Pelfrey was trying to chase with his Tuesday night jog in Colorado were nowhere to be found today. The young righty threw eight strong innings, allowing only five hits, one run and walking one while striking out five.
Pelfrey threw only 105 pitches in the effort, finishing up with a strikeout after a 10-pitch battle with Derrek Lee.
Daniel Murphy provided the offense for the Mets, going 3-for-4 with a triple and a homer and driving in all four runs.
Francisco Rodriguez made it interesting in the ninth, walking Jeff Baker and allowing an RBI double to Geovany Soto, but induced a groundout from Kosuke Fukudome to end the game.
Other Observations and Notes:
Pelfrey looked great, throwing 70 of his 105 pitches for strikes. He didn’t throw many breaking balls but he appeared to have strong command over them, and he wasn’t afraid to bust batters inside with his fastball.
Pelfrey’s fastball was registering in the upper 90s on the SNY gun.
Murphy raised his OPS (on-base plus slugging) to .715 with his three hits, the highest it has been since late May.
Angel Pagan and Brian Schneider both chipped in two hits for the Mets.
The game ball:
Goes to Big Pelf, naturally. Jerry Manuel said that Pelfrey had a better rhythm and “real, real, real good stuff” today, and it showed.
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.
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