…yep, we are all talent evaluators at this point… personally, i look forward to watching Bobby Parnell, who looked decent in his first start over the weekend, though he did little to distinguish himself from his work in the bullpen… also, perez’s outings are important, especially coming off his last start, in which he looked the among best i have ever seen him… on the other side of the ball, i’d like to see Daniel Murphy and Angel Pagan more, regardless of whether Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado return… all of these decisions will help establish how the Mets should approach the off-season…

By the way…

Zoe Rice of Pick Me Up Some Mets has fun with Photoshop and suggests a few slogans for the Mets 2010 season, such as, ‘The DL is the New Black.’

…of course, there always the classic Ya Gotta Bereave…

“It doesn’t matter what the Phillies do if we don’t take care of our own business. It’s not even important to watch what those guys do. We have to make our own pushes.”

…I appreciate Wright and his candid remarks and completely agree – no loss is a good one at this point whether they hold their ground in the division or Wild Card or not…

Oliver Perez, on the loss last night, told reporters:

“This is a really tough loss for us…Right now, the most important thing is the ‘W.’ We’re not winning, and people feel sad.”

…At least the players themselves recognize the fact that ‘wins” are the most important thing right now, of course it would be nice if that notion would translate into something positive and consistent on the field…

The Mets did have chances, and Jerry Manuel had this to say about those chances:

“We had some shots to do some damage, but we didn’t get it done…I can’t say that we didn’t play well. We didn’t actually beat ourselves. We had a chance tonight, and we just didn’t get it done.”

…I agree, it was not an awful game, but the fact of the matter is that good teams take advantage of all or most of their opportunities…

…I do believe that the Mets are better than what we have seen even with all of the injuries only because, like I have said so many times, it doesn’t take a superstar to get a bunt down, or hit the ball the other way, or catch and throw the ball and those are the things, generally, that this team has not done consistently even with their top players in the lineup…

Oliver Perez will start Thursday night against the Braves in Atlanta, followed by Mike Pelfrey on Friday, Johan Santana on Saturday, Fernando Nieve on Sunday, and Livan Hernandez on Monday against the Nationals in Washington.

Jerry Manuel told reporters that Jonathan Niese would take the place of a starter who has “three bad outings in a row”, which seemingly would apply to Hernandez who in his last two starts is 0-2 with a 19.29 ERA, allowing 21 hits, eight walks, and 15 earned runs in his last seven innings and has lost his last four starts.

For now, the rotation will remain in tact, with Manuel saying:

“We’ve had some success with the rotation we have, and you gotta kind of give guys the benefit of the doubt.”

…as much as I think Hernandez has been beneficial and durable, his last two games in particular have been really alarming and with Niese pitching as well as he has been in the minors, it might be wise to consider this change as the team has lost eight of his last nine starts overall…

…if the team is going to make any sort of run in the second half, then I think Manuel  simply must make changes from within as he cannot rely on ownership making a deal…in reality, things couldn’t be much worse…

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, courtesy of ESPN.com, “Perez is the first pitcher in team history to win a game in which he pitched fewer than six innings and allowed at least seven walks.”

…perez was rocking a nice slider, but he struggled to command his fastball, it seemed… he walked seven, and more than half of the pitches he threw were balls… the thing is, he kept coming up with the big out… hmmm, maybe we should stop looking for Big Game Ollie, and just be happy with Big Out Ollie…

Perez, speaking to reporters following the game, said:

“I did everything I could… Sometimes you’re going to have that kind of game, and sometimes you’re going to have almost-perfect games… Sometimes you don’t have command.  That’s why it’s very important to make sure you make the important outs.”

Perez lowered his ERA from 9.97 to 8.78.

The Mets are 2–4 in Perez’s six starts this season.

“I think there’s still some things that he obviously needs to work on,” Jerry Manuel said after the game.  “Obviously command is one of them.”

…yes, jerry… obviously… this is an understatement…

…by the way, perez has a faux-hawk going, which makes him look even crazier than i already assume he is… i like it…

Perez is expected to start against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

“I’ve got to take in what took place, see about his velocity and all,” Jerry Manuel said.

Oliver Perez

According to Manuel, the Mets received positive reports on Perez following his last rehab start in Brooklyn.

In a post to his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin reports on Billy Wagner, as well as John Maine, who will not pick up a baseball until Thursday.

According to Manuel, getting Maine and Perez back will give the team options, in terms of who is in the rotation and who is in the bullpen.

Manuel explained, Fernando Nieve could be a candidate for the bullpen, as he could lengthen the bullpen and allow rest for Sean Green and Bobby Parnell, among others.

Lennon also reports that Jose Reyes, who is on the disabled list with a torn tendon in his hamstring, feels something on “quick moves”.

Reyes reportedly played catch on the field prior to last night’s game but was supposed to take ground balls.

…that doesn’t sound good, considering that a major part of his game is stealing bases, which requires a “quick move”…

Update, 5:25 pm, by Matthew Cerrone:

“Carlos Beltran is hurting again from the bone bruise below his right knee and he plans to get an MRI soon to find out the extent of the damage,” writes David Lennon, in a post to his blog for Newsday.

…seriously, at this point, you’d think they’d have one of those LifeScreening machines set up in the clubhouse, like a security gate in the airport… guys walk through it, if bells and whitsles start ringing they step aside and go directly to the trainer’s room… otherwise, if all is quite, go home…

For quotes from Beltran, check out Lennon’s blog.

…beltran is in today’s game, which i would think is a good sign…

While there is still no timetable for Perez to return, Maine is expected to be back next week.

In a report for Baseball Prospectus, Joe Sheehan lists Oliver Perez among six players who, if everything goes according to plan, could eventually win 300 games.

…i hope for the best for perez, and wish him the best of luck, and would love nothing more than to see him win 300 games, especially for the Mets… but, i feel pretty confident saying it will never happen… i mean, i’d say he has a slightly better chance of winning 300 games than i do, and i have no chance…

According to Sheehan, the 27-year-old Perez is not much different from the 27-year-old Randy Johnson, in that both pitchers struggled with control, while having an ‘electric arm.’

…this may be true, and i too see the similarities, but johnson may be the greatest left-handed pitcher of his generation… and perez’s biggest problem isn’t his talent, it’s his inability to focus and think through adjustments from batter to batter…

Through his first 180 games, Perez has 56 wins, 1,047 strike outs and a 4.50 ERA, while Johnson had won 81 games, had 1,330 strike outs and a 3.70 ERA.

Perez is still sidelined in St. Lucie, as he works to rehab from tendinitis in his knee.