Mets Sweep Shortened Series; Onto Atlanta

The Mets beat the Yankees at Yankee Stadium last night by a score of 11-2.

For a boxscore, click here.

Great win...great series...offensive explosion, with a combination of good pitching? WHERE HAS THAT BEEN ALL YEAR!? I joke, but seriously...where has it been...

Oliver Perez did not seem to look too good early on, because he was out of rhythm and doing all those herky-jerky ollie things that he does, but found a way to get it done, and by get it done, i mean SHUT THEM DOWN...

Delgado's ball, which was initially ruled a home run, was then ruled foul by the umpiring crew, which was the wrong call...i initially, my first thought was 'damn, now he is going to strike out' but Carlos has been swinging the bat really well, and got an rbi single later in the at-bat, so way to prevail Carlos...

On the call, which was clearly the wrong ruling, Willie Randolph went out to argue the call and was CLEARLY steamed at the call...later, he was told to 'shut up' by the home plate umpire, and then Willie's bench coach, Jerry Manuel, was ejected for chirping from the dugout...

nice job Jerry, way to fire the team up, because the inning continued and the mets were up 4 runs by the time the Yanks came to bat again...

Jose homered for the second straight game, and doubled as well, so maybe he is starting to get going...Ryan Church is still locked in at the plate, belting a home run to dead center, in which Jon Miller described it as 'hit into REGGIE JACKSON territory'...and i thought that was funny...

Way to go guys, we needed this with a HUGE 4 game series coming up, and so we need to go into Atlanta and take at least two games (by my standards, 3 of 4)...

TCB

Update: Parnel and Niese

Bobby Parnel may have started the season pitching extremely poorly but now he is red hot. In his last start Parnel got the win after going 7 strong innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits. Parnel has received wins in all of his last 3 starts. His era might be a 5.27 but his last 3 starts might be an indication that he is on the fast track to the big leagues.

Jon Niese has had a good season with some high and low points. He has an era of 3.15 with 35 strikeouts, 16 more than Parnell. But in 2 of his last 3 games he has given up 4+ runs.

Vargas over Bostick

Claudio Vargas will make his Mets debut tonight. Vargas was 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in two starts for New Orleans. In 11.0 innings, he allowed 13 hits, six runs, earned, with one walk and 11 strikeouts. In Claudio's last start, on May 8th, he hurled 7.0 shutout innings vs. Fresno, surrendering four hits, no walks with seven strikeouts. He also made one start for St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League. In that outing, he worked 5.0 innings, permitted three hits, two runs, one earned, with no walks and six strikeouts. Vargas, 29, was signed to a minor league contract by the New York Mets on April 10th. Claudio was released by Milwaukee on March 25th earlier this spring. The 6-4, 238-pounder was 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in five spring training starts before he was released. In 18.2 innings, he allowed 17 hits, eight runs, earned, with six walks and 10 strikeouts. Opponents hit .238 against him.

Though, I was hoping the Mets would give Adam Bostick a chance. The 25 year old lefty is 2-1 with a 3.83 era, 26 strikeouts in 8 starts (9 games). Last season Adam was 6-7 with a 5.66 era, 91 strikeouts, and 45 walks in 21 games (20 starts, 97 innings), Bostick had a strong fall and winter. He pitched in the Arizona Fall League going 2-0, with a 2.74 era, 23 strikeouts in 6 games.The Mets acquired left-hander Adam Bostick along with lefty Jason Vargas in November of 2006 in exchange for right-handed relievers Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom. Bostick is a pretty average pitcher but I like him and would like to see him get a chance this year with the Mets if he continues to pitch well.

News:

The New York Mets announced yesterday that they have selected the contracts of right handed pitcher Claudio Vargas and infielder/outfielder Fernando Tatis from New Orleans (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League, activated right handed pitcher Matt Wise from the 15-Day Disabled List, designated right handed pitchers Jorge Sosa and Nelson Figueroa for release or assignment and placed outfielder Angel Pagan on the 15-Day Disabled List, with a left shoulder contusion. In addition, catcher Raul Casanova cleared waivers and will be assigned to New Orleans.

Mets Bust Slump with Offensive Explosion, End West Coast Trip With a Bang

The Mets finished their West Coast swing with a bang yesterday, stomping the Dodgers 12-1 in Los Angeles.

For a Box score, click here.

John Maine looked great, and kept the Dodgers off balance all afternoon, he gets a game ball...Maine had a great spring, and then struggled his first few starts, but has had two or three very good starts in a row, and is shaping up to the be pitcher we all know he can be...

About time the offense started fluctuating, especially Luis Castillo, who was 2-4, with a walk, 2 rbi's and a run scored, hopefully this will get him going, because it would great if the Willie had the option of moving Ryan Church into an rbi spot, like 6th, right behind Moises Alou, which would allow the Mets to move Carlos Delgado, who had the afternoon off, down into the 7 hole...

It was also great to Marlon Anderson break out of his season long slump, with 2 hits, a rbi and a run scored...the Mets need him to be raking like he was last season off the bench, because he is so vital in the late innings...

While it is great to get a huge win, let's not quite start signing hallelujah just yet, because if you look at the box score, you will notice a few things: Jose Reyes went 0-3, David Wright went 1-5 and Carlos Beltran went 1-5 as well...the offense as a whole was great, but that included bench players, like Raul Casanova, who was 2-4 with 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored, and Marlon going 2-5 as well...of course, Ryan Church continues to produce, going 3-4 with a HR...keep it up and soon we will be saying "Xavier who"?

All in all, good win, time to take on Cincinnati this weekend

TCB

Mets Need to Start Playing the Way They Know How

The Mets lost last night to the Dodgers 5-1.

For a box score, click here.

Oliver Perez went six innings, and gave up five runs.

In a post game conference, Willie Randolph was quoted as saying, "I thought he pitched pretty well...I thought his line looked pretty good."

pretty good...pretty good Willie? you think that five runs in six innings is 'pretty good'? What standard do you hold your players to, mediocrity at its finest? gimme a break...i get mad when i see these kinds of things from Willie, because it confirms what everyone thinks: he is too complacent...

Right now, there is one shining star in the mets offense, and that is Ryan Church. no offense to Church, but when he is currently the best of the best in an offense containing David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo and Moises Alou, then we have some problems...Yes, Church is surprising everyone with his play, which is great...he is hitting .310 by the way...but when you have six of your eight starting position players hitting under .280, then something is wrong...

It calls for me to ask, "WHAT IS GOING ON OUT THERE!" This is silly, for a team with an offense like this to be two games over .500. don't even get me started on the bullpen...Sosa and Schoeneweis pitched scoreless innings last night...good job guys, way to get it done, IN A GAME THAT MEANS NOTHING AND IN WHICH THE METS ARE LOSING 5-1! HOW ABOUT CLOSE GAMES, WITH JOHAN LEAVING WITH THE LEAD! I'm sorry...i got mad...

the point is, these guys are not performing like they are capable of right now. this is the mets starting lineup, with their batting averages:

Jose Reyes SS: .263
Ryan Church RF: .310
David Wright 3B: .274
Carlos Beltran CF: .221
Moises Alou LF: .186
Carlos Delgado 1B: .216
Brian Schneider C: .295
Luis Castillo 2B: .231

the numbers do not lie folks...Alou gets a pass, because he just came off the DL...it's interesting how the only two players above .280 are actually Nationals that we got in the off-season...it is time to play-ball guys, because "it's only may" is not something i am happy about saying...

Johnson Released

The Mets released Ben Johnson. The Mets traded John Adkins and Johnson for Pitcher Royce Ring and Pitcher Heath Bell. The Mets already released Adkins back in October.

I always thought Johnson was pretty good. The problem was he was injured literally the entire time while being in the Mets organization. At only 26 years old, Johnson played 89 games in 2 seasons for the Padres in 2005 and 2006. He batted .232 through 05/06. It would have been nice to see Johnson healthy and see if he could have improved, especially now with the lack of outfield depth in the Mets minor league system.

Article:

Over at the Daily News, Adam Rubin profiles Emmanuel Garcia, who is probably the Mets 2nd best second baseman prospect.

Garcia, signed in ‘04 as an undrafted free agent out of Collège Ahuntsic, said he’s trying to make adjustments to the better breaking pitches he’s now seeing in Double-A. He noted that playing in the Florida State League last year was the first time he participated on a full-season team, so he’s still learning. Because he’s batting first, second and seventh, he’s focusing on taking pitches and getting on base. Garcia actually hasn’t homered since Aug. 12, 2006 with Kingsport, although he has 82 steals in 1,042 minor-league at-bats.

Willie's Bad, Peterson's Bad, etc etc etc, ALL COMPLAINTS!

ENOUGH already! Everywhere you turn you hear "Willie needs to go, Peterson needs to go, blah blah blah"

ENOUGH!

It is still too early for changes that drastic to be made. Let us examine what is going on right now, and what has gone on over the past few years with Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson: Willie has won more games than he has lost, and by a considerable margin at that. Rick Peterson has done EVERYTHING he can, and has turned John Maine into a potential All-Star and Cy Young candidate-to-be, has taken Oliver Perez, and last year, did what he could with an erratic, wild, headcase of a pitcher, and turned him into a double-digit winner.

People, INCLUDING ME, bash Willie for his lack of intensity, and for his "it's OK, we'll get 'em tomorrow" attitude. Trust me, I hate it JUST as much as all of you do, and possibly even more. I am a player myself, and I like nothing more than when a manager shows some fire, and sticks up for a player on a bad call, gets in your face WHEN IT IS NECESSARY, and does what he can to get his team fired up. That being said, Willie just IS NOT THAT GUY. Which is a shame, because if he was, I feel his players would respond better to pressure, because they know that if and, lately, WHEN they fail, over and over again (I am talking to YOU Aaron Heilman, and I am talking to YOU Carlos Delgado) it will be "OK, no worries, get 'em later."

That is the wrong mind set to have your players in. Do you think a SINGLE player on the Cubs thinks that way? OF COURSE NOT! Why? Because Sweet Lou isn't afraid to make changes, and to say "ya know what? YOU AREN'T GETTING THE JOB DONE, TAKE A SEAT ON THE BENCH UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT DONE!"

Here is the problem: we do not have a manager like that. We just don't. I am not a Willie Randolph fanatic, and I am BARELY a supporter, but if you look around, what else do you have? The only other person who I would put in charge is Sandy Alomar. He has some fire, he knows the team, and I personally think it would work. Will that happen? Doubtful. Doubtful to say the least. Would I embrace the change? I might. But right now, with the team at 14-12, and half game out of first, I do not believe it is the time to make changes.

Yes this sounds like a condescending rant, with me changing my opinion frequently, but here is what it comes down to: I am acknowledging that Willie Randolph is not exactly what we need right now, but I also think that he is the best we have, and that things are not bad enough to make a change as drastic as firing the team's manager (that would be WAY to Steinbrenner-ish)

Two weeks from now, if this team is still 2 games above .500, I can make everyone who reads this blog a FORMAL guarantee that I will make another post.

And trust me, it will not be as nice as this one was.

Pellot Slow Start

I know it is early into the season, but you have to be disappointed with A St. Lucie second baseman Hector Pellot. Hector, who I think is the best second baseman prospect in the Mets system, is off and stumbling with a .165 average through 22 games; by the way he has 0 stolen bases. In 2006 he played poorly batting just .189. But last season he batted .274 in 114 games with 33 stolen bases for the Sand Gnats and finished up the season playing 6 games for St. Lucie batting .304 with 2 stolen bases. In 2007 he was honored as a SAL Mid-Season All-Star. He also batted .275 in the Hawaii Winter League.

I became quite fond of Pellot over the last year. He is only 21 years old and is a very raw player with a lot of developing left to do. I did expect him to get off to a better start this year though. I would keep an eye on not only his stolen bases, to see if he swipes as many bags as last year, and to see if his stolen base percentage improves. Last year he was just 66% (33/50) for Savannah, a very low percentage.

Church is not for me

Yes, Ryan Church is off to a very hot start. Yes, he is hitting .316 with 3 home runs and has 19 rbis. But, I just can not like him. As a huge Lastings Milledge fan I was heartbroken when they traded him away for what seemed like nothing. Schneider has been great with the rotation, though rarely healthy. And yes, Church has been tearing it up. It is so early I am just uncomfortable rooting for a guy that caused my favorite player to be traded away. I still want the Mets to win but I secretly root for Church to fail. I don’t know why but I just can not find a way to stop disliking church. It is so early into the trade I still feel like the Mets will get the raw end in the future.

AA Starters: Niese Good, Parnell Bad

In AA Binghamton, Jonathon Niese has been wonderful on the mound. After 5 starts, Niese has managed to go 2-1 but more importantly have an era of .71. The Mets 7th round draft pick pitched very well in his first career spring training start this past spring training. He had 3 starts and went 1-0 with a 3.12 era, 5 hits, 6 strikeouts, and 7 walks.

The 20 year old left handed pitcher finished up the regular season with an 11-7 record with a 4.29 era and 110 strikeouts. Niese went 5-3 with a 5.32 era before the all star break and had since gone 6-4 with a 3.52 era. Niese was 8th in the league in strikeouts. The thing to watch is opponent’s batting average against Niese; it is .285, not very good. In his only start for St. Lucie in the playoffs Niese pitched superb going 6 innings with 1 hit ball and 9 strikeouts. He Went 11-9 with a 3.93 ERA in 25 starts with Class A Hagerstown in 2006.

On the other hand, Bobby Parnell has not been so hot. He is 0-2 with an era of 7.15 after 5 starts. He has given up more walks (14) then he has strikeouts (13)... never a good sign.

The Mets 7th pick in the 2005 draft Robert Parnell was invited to spring training this year. Parnell started his career in Brooklyn with 2 wins and 3 losses but a 1.73 era, 67 strikeouts in 15 games, 14 starts. The 6 foot 3, righty pitcher went 5-10 with a 4.04 era with 54 strikeouts in 18 starts for A Hagerstown in 2006.

He also started 3 games for A St. Lucie; 0-1, 9.26 era.Parnell started the 2007 in St Lucie going 3-3 with a 3.25 era, 62 strikeouts in just 12 starts (55.1 innings) making him a FSL Mid-Season All-Star. After being called up to AA Binghamton, the 23 year old struggled with a 5-5 record and era of 4.19 in 17 starts.

The scariest stat for Parnell in AA was the difference between bases empty, runners on base, and runners in scoring position. Bases Empty he had an era of 1.09, runners on 7.99 era, runners in scoring position 12.04 era.

Relievers in the Minors

The New York Mets bullpen has not been very good after the first month of regular season play. With starting pitching being very spuratic, the mets relievers are being overworked. Just to name a few, but Heilman is on pace to pitch in around 90 games and he has an era of 6.28. Schoenweis, Smith, and Sosa are all on pace to pitch in the almost 80 games. With this being said the Mets will need to get fresh arms, and luckily they have plenty in their minor league system.

In AAA, one of my favorite relivers, Willie Collazo has pitched in 10 games and has an era of 1.71. Carlos Muniz has an era of 0 with 2 saves after 6 games.

In AA, Eddie Camacho has an era of 2.3 after 8 games (15.2) innings. German Marte has an era of 1.54 and 2 saves after 8 games. After a fast start, Eddie Kuntz is once again struggling and now has an era of 5.06 and 4 saves after 9 games.

In A+ the best reliver is Ryan Coultas after starting the season with a 3.52 era after 9 games pitched. Finally, in A-, the best reliever thus far has Jose Bierd with a 1.04 era in 9 games.

Mest Edge Bucs in 11

Last Night, the Mets pulled out an 11-inning, 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Jorge Sosa got the win in relief, and John Van Benschoten took the loss.

Nice to see David Wright get the game winning hit, he needed that, as he has been slumping lately...Johan Santana actually looked pretty good, with the exception to the pair of home runs that he gave up to Nate McLouth and former Mets farm-hand Jason Bay. Santana just threw a lot of pitches, because the Pirates were having good at-bat's all night, and were refusing to chase Johan's low change-ups and fastballs slightly off the plate...is Ryan Church dialed in or what? This is a guy who people were criticizing as early as spring training. So far, Church has been for real...

Wagner picked up his first blown save of the year, but it really wasn't his fault...Reyes already has made 5 errors this season, one of which was throwing error in the ninth inning last night, that ended up leading to the tying run crossing on a 2-out RBI single by Freddie Sanchez...

All in all, let's not dwell on what went wrong, let's just go out and win this afternoon...

TCB

Carlos: No Curtain Call; No Problem

On Sunday, Carlos Delgado hit a home run late in the game, his second of the afternoon, and jogged around the bases; business as usual.

However, the Shea crowd wanted a curtain call from Carlos, feeling he deserved it. Carlos decided to stay in the dugout, and David Wright was seen crossing his arms, as if giving the "safe" sign as an umpire would, and mouthing "DO NOT GO OUT THERE".

After the game, Delgado said, "it was not me sending a message to the fans." He also later said, "There is not bad blood between the fans and the players."

interesting...very interesting...I can't decide which I find to be more intriguing: Delgado NOT coming out, or Wright TELLING him not to...interesting indeed, however, I was at the game on Sunday, and I was one of the many in attendance calling for the curtain call. I was NOT however, one of many that BOOED when Delgado did not emerge with a fist pump, and a wave.

Initially, I was unhappy with his decision, especially since I was one of the fans who wanted one. However, after looking at the situation, taking into account his season up until now, I agree with him. Why would you a) go and wave to fans that have been booing you at every oppertunity, b) go and wave when all you did was hit two homeruns, which he has done many times before in his career? If it is mid-season, and Delgado has been hitting a little better, than MAYBE a curtain call happens, but I just think that in this situation, Carlos made the right decision

Sorry Carp Fans

In today's game, Carlos Delgado hits 2 home runs bringing his average up to .205 and increasing his home run count to 3 along with improving to 12 rbis. There has been lots of talk about decreasing Delgados playing time or even getting rid of him. One of the most viable options talked about is first baseman Mike Carp in AA.

Carp is leading the Binghamton Mets in a plethora of categories ranging from average to total bases. His stats include the following: a .376 average with 6 home runs, 20 rbis, 16 runs, 7 doubles, 14 strikeouts, 6 walks, and a slugging percentage of .645 in 93 at bats. As good of numbers as this is, Carp has struggled unbelievably after injuring his wrist last season.

A power hitter, Carp, batted He hit .243 and had 0 home runs in last season in the Arizona Fall League and still managed to be the AFL Prospect Team. Last season, Carp batted .251 with 11 home runs, 48 rbis, and 55 runs in 97 games for AA.

Carp was highly regarded early last season and was invited to spring training, but since his injury has had a lot of trouble up to his recent success this year.

People might want the Mets to call up Carp because of his great numbers right now but it is a very poor idea. Carp does not usually hit very well for average and his biggest problem is his strikeouts. Through 2007, Carp struck out 329 times in 381 games. The kid needs to show that he will continue to hit in AA and then AAA before being called up. He simply is not ready to make the leap and it is a stretch to say he will be ready next year either. Carp really needs to play a large part of the season in AA and some in AAA and must play a full season in AAA if he will have lasting success at the Major League Level

Post Game Wrap for April 27 Win Over Atlanta

The Mets beat the Braves today at Shea Stadium, taking the rubber game of this three-game series, 6-3.

For a boxscore, click here.

good outing by Nelson Figueroa...he pitched into the 6th, and got into a little bit of trouble, and left with a 4-2 lead, and runners on the corners and one out, but Joe Smith came in, and after surrendering a lead off single, got the final two outs, and extinguished the fire in the Atlanta bats.

The Mets got on the board in the first by a wild pitch, which scored Jose Reyes from third base...I was at the game today, and I predicted John Smoltz would be out by the 5th inning...he was pulled after the 4th inning in favor of Buddy Carlaisle, so I was correct.

Raul Casanova went yahtzee in the second inning, after Delgado had walked...Smoltz just seemed to not have it today, much to the delight of the Shea faithful...

Welcome back, Mr. Delgado. Carlos, where has that been all season? Two homeruns today, and a walk. He looked NOTHING like that .185 he came into the game hitting.

Thank god Aaron Heilman got a day off...it just looks like every single time Willie brings him in, he gives up runs. He is looking like (dare I even say it) this year's GUILLERMO MOTA!

Luis Castillo is back in business, going 3-4 today...he looks dialed in at the plate, which is really big for this team, because once Reyes gets hot, Castillo will be right there behind him to move him up, drive him in, set the table for the 3,4,5 hitters, etc, all of that "#2 hitter" stuff Slappy is so great at.

By the way, Scott Schoeneweis owed Ryan Chruch a steak dinner for running down a ball that would have not only scored a run, but put the tying run on second, possibly third, with two outs in the seventh...what was funny was how on the scoreboard, they showed a replay of the catch, and then the reaction Schoeneweis had, which was just blowing air out of his mouth, with a baffled look on his face...priceless...


All in all, it was great to take a series from Atlanta, and by the way, the Mets are 4-2 against the Phillies this season, so even though the team has started 13-11, we are getting it done against the division rivals

TCB