New York Mets 2010

[sonny10305]

Carlos Beltran was able to play five innings in an extended spring training game yesterday. I guess you could say this is another big step in his rehab. He got six plate appearances and played center field. Looks like Beltran is getting closer to starting a minor league rehab assignment. Once he is cleared by doctors, he can be in the minors for up to 20 days before he needs to be called up. Manual was so excited he suggested he would like to use Beltran DH against the Yankees this weekend, but that ain’t happin....not yet. Beside I wanna see Chris Carter continue in that spot, the kid is my new favorite Met (sorry David)
If Beltran spends all 20 days in the minors, he should return right around the Al Starr break.

So now that the Mets are in serious completion for the NL East again I guess the one factor we need to start taking seriously is the starting pitching. We have four excellent starters right now in Santana, Pelfrey, Dicky and Niese. Takahashi is the one question mark, perhaps he would make a better fit back in the pen and we should go after a quality starter to add the final punch to our pitching lineup...now is the time.
Ray Oswaldt said he would definatly accept a trade to the Mets,
Really Ray, hat happened to I don’t want to play for the Mets? Yup he actually said he would only play for the Yankees or Phillies. So now because the Mets are now a serious contender in the NL East he has had a change of heart. No thanks.. get lost. I will admit his 3.16 ERA is not all that shabby and a big part of that has been his team’s weak offense, but I don’t want him.
I want to see a serious move on Cliff Lee, unfortunately just about everyone I speak to abut that thinks it ain’t gonna happen cause the Mets don’t have what it takes to get him.
What ever happens with Lee I would want him but I am just not sure I would give up the farm to get him. my concern what would we loose a part of out Farm system which is outstanding right now and I wanna keep those guys. Let’s take Fernando Martinez for example who many believe us trade bait right now. Since returning from the DL last week he has been on fire, in fact in last nights Buffalo game he hit a walk off grand slam to give the Bisons the win. He has gone 7 for 16 with 2 homers and 5 RBI.
Other possibilities for lee would be Thole, Tejada Flores or Mejia, none of whom I wanna give up.

Some bad news from Buffalo, Mike Hessman who is the International League's leader in home runs and RBIs has a benign tumor in his hand and will miss 3-4 weeks.
On the more positive side The Bisons promoted outfielder Lucas Duda, infielder Jonathan Malo and pitcher Roy Meritt from Double-A Binghamton. I know Meritt pretty well he attended a couple of my games last year and I was very excited to hear that news.

Good to see you back posting Syam, I wish we would hear from saucy, it has been a while, sure hope he is ok

 

[syam24]

As far as trade rumors, I keep reading/hear about Jake Westbrook as a possibility. He seems to be pitching pretty well and would probably come at a less expensive price than Lee. Also, Lee is a free agent after this season, and unless the Mets get to have him sign an extension or new contract before the trade, he definitely would not be worth the price. I don't know Westbrook's contract status. We need to stay hot against the Tribe, Let's go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

Syam I just don’t know how much I want another starter, unless it’s a guy like Lee. Although now I’m thinking Lee will prolly end up with the Rangers, if they ever get the ownership deal done. I keep thinking this is the right time for us to add a quality starter but I am interested in only a few pitchers and I don’t wanna give up too much to get em.. I also need to see more of Takahashi, he scares me a little, and of course Maine, I am anxious to se how John does in Buffalo this weekend.


Son of a gun, the Mets offense finally showed Johan some respect and provided run support, will wonders ever cease. He needed it too cause again his velocity was down although he did break 90+ MPH in later innings, but once again he didn’t have great command of the changeup, and was inconsistent with his slider which he did not throw much. he Indians were not swinging at his changeup and missing it as we would expect and there were waaaay to many pitches out and over the plate. But then like the Johan we know and love he found his rhythm and his fastball got up to 92. He allowed 4 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks
But there was Francisco Rodriguez creating his usual drama in the 9th allowing a pinch-hit two-run homer.
.
Did you notice that seven of the Mets twelve hits were infield hits? Haven’t seen that in while.
The Mets are 16–5 in their last 21 games, the best in baseball during that stretch.

So great to see the Mets continue to play hard and run the bases well. Great fun tom watch them dropping down bunts, especially when those Indians sent the ball flying in to foul ground, and over the first baseman.

The thrill of the night was my boy Ike Davis; this kid is full of surprises. when the Indians played the shift against him I wondered what would he do, well he bunted, ok so it went foul but I liked that attempt...I liked it a lot. Plus a couple of pitchers later and hecrushed a fastball to deep center field for a homer. It just goes to show how the other teams are beginning to work Ike by altering their pitching and defensive against him. Ike has sure noticed that, and In fact said that he sees that teams have been shifting toward right field to try and keep him from pulling the ball. For example the third baseman moves over to where the shortstop normally stands. You guys may remember I told you IKe likes to focus on hitting the ball up the middle, not trying to pull. He figures that if they’re going to pull the third baseman all the way to shortstop, he knows he has to take what they give him and lay it down. He is a smart kid and quickly learning how teams like to play against him. I expect to see him bunt more now; he wants another crack at that he really enjoyed that…. So did I.

 

[syam24]

Good to see the Mets thumping the teams that are not that good, especially on the road. Another pretty good outing from Niese and hits from everyone in the lineup. Hopefully the injury to Jason Bay is not serious, and they took him out for precautionary reasons with a fairly large lead. One more in Cleveland, then on to the Bronx. Let's go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

Niese was solid last night over 7 innings He also helped bring the Mets starter’s ERA to a combined 3.74 that’s 2.91 during this road trip which is 4th in the National League. Jon threw 104 pitches, 66 for strikes. Niese wasn’t perfect, but you had to love how he hung in and battled, one of his problems was his off-speed pitches, which the Indians took advantage of, but he had good control most of the night and he threw strikes

With last nights win the Mets have secured consecutive road series wins for the first time since August of ‘08 and pretty much guaranteed themselves a successful road trip, the fist this year. We also improved to a ML best 17-6 since May 21 and pulled to within 1/2 a game of first place, freakin Braves won last night keeping us out of first place. The Mets are now 11-2 in the month of June; they have won six in a row, 17 of their last 22, and their second consecutive road series.

Mets bats stayed hot as well, all 9 starters had at least 1 hit last night and has now scored 15 runs in 2 games vs. Cleveland and 34 runs during their 5 game road winning streak.

Syam wrote about our scare last night with Jason Bay, he bruised his quadriceps muscle after a colliding with Marte running up the first base line. It looked a lot worse than it turned out to be, he went down hard and I thought maybe he wasn’t gonna get up. But later Bay joked about it saying that the official diagnosis is a left quad contusion, but he called it just a little charley horse. Bay iced his leg after the game and Manuel said that Bay would most likely have Thursday’s game off With Jesus Feliciano at left. Bay went on to say “It’s just a contusion, a fancy word for a bruise. So it should be fine.” Feel better Jason.

Tonight we go for the sweep and our seventh win in a row with R.A Dickey facing Jake Westbrook

 

[sonny10305]

I had a fun afternoon yesterday I went to Brooklyn to spend time with the Cyclones. The boys are gearing up for the big opening day on Saturday and I got a chance to catch up with some of the boys and meet some of the new guys.
Brian Needham introduced me to Wally Backman who is the new manager of the cyclones. I found Wally to be not all that personable or particularly friendly but he did speak with me for a few minutes. I guess I will have to win him over, cause he will soon learn what a major supporter of the Cyclones I am. During the summer I am all about work, my baseball team the Mets and Cyclones and that’s it, that’s my life. If I am not at work or playing ball I am usually with the Cyclones.
Wally did say that his goal is to try to develop his team and help them get to Citi Field as soon as possible.
So his outlook is very much that of the Bisons manager and ya gotta love that.
While the team was I spring training in Florida I had spoken to some of the boys who told me Wally was a no nonsense guy and worked them very hard. They were taught how to play an aggressive brand of baseball, Wally wants to see lots of stolen bases and hit and runs, and he teaches how to force the opposing teams defense to make mistakes.
The Cyclones 2010 roster has a few familiar faces and a lot of new guys. A total of 29 players are on the pre-season roster, 15 pitchers, six infielders, six outfielders, and two catchers. Eight of the boys guys are back from last year. One of the guys I am really excited about is out fielder Cory Vaughn; he was selected by the Mets in the 4th round of the First-Year Player Draft last week. Like Ike Davis, the kids father, Greg Vaughn, was a ball player who Cory is proud to tell you his dad finished his 15-year major league career with 355 home runs.

So I got home kinda late from Brooklyn and missed most of the Mets game last night but I have it on my DVR to watch later. Of course my blackberry was keeping me up to date so I knew we had swept the Indians. Unfortunately those Braves won as well so we are still in second place.
Last nights win means the Mets have won seven in a row including their first six on this nine game road trip, have swept their second straight opponent on the road, and they have improved their road record to 14-18 on the season, and are a Major League best 18-5 since May 22.

Important day for John Maine today he will pitch in Buffalo, a lot is riding on that game and the next one as well, and he is expected to pitch at least two games for the Bisons. If he pitches well he could possibly return to Flushing and get his starting position back with Takahashi returning to the pen. If Johnny doesn’t pitch well and Takahashi does, Maine could end up in the pen with Takahashi holding on to that starting spot. So a lot is riding on how well both guys pitch this weekend. If Maine and Takahashi both fall on their collective asses we can expect the Mets to make a pitching accusation before the deadline. I am rooting for Maine but I have my doubts, cause even if he pitches well in Buffalo he could return to Flushing and fail again, it’s what he does.
At least two of the Bisons will be keeping me up on Maine so I will let you guys know what happens.

Big subway series this weekend with the Yankees, with the exact same pitching matchups as the last one. We won 2-3 last time and I expect and hope to do at least that again. The Yankees fell to the struggling Phillies the last couple of days, but they are a tough team, beating them won't be easy. The Yankees are at home in their hitter-friendly ballpark

One thing for sure it won’t be dull.

 

[Sausy]

The way the Yankees have been playing the last three games I ALMOST feel sorry for them!Sonny,syam....guys....sorry to have been gone for so long but I tell you,in the time the Mets have been playing such great ball the absolute best feeling I've had was the sweep against the Phillies that featured THREE shutouts!Doesn't get any better than a good nose rub against the dirt to those hated Phillies!

Hope you have a great day at the Cyclones opener,sonny....sorry to read that Wally Backman hasn't succumbed to the good ole Joey charm but you'll get him turned around in time!I know you'll really be jazzed today!

Your team is play is starting soon,and hope you have a great season...you truly are an example of someone who lives baseball,who's got so much love and respect for the game I hope you never lose that joy..it's a special feeling!

 

[sonny10305]

Yay...Saucy is back

I had a full day yesterday of baseball baseball and oh yeah …more baseball.
It stared with the Cyclones series opener against our hated rivals the Staten Island Yankees. It was a tremendous game with the cyclones taking the win.
Today (Saturday) is the home opener against the SI Yankees in Brooklyn with Mark Cohoon on the mound.

Next up the Mets, I was a little worried that the Yankees would have gotten Hisanori Takahashi figured out, but nope, they did not. He dominated of the Yankees for six innings, allowing no runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. Those poor sap Yankees were no match against Takahashi reaching and almost never able to hit a ball squarely. What a tremendous outing, the man is back and hopefully for good. Of course I have to mention Pedro Feliciano who was awesome through two shutout innings of relief, Manual left him in against the righties which he would not normally do and it paid off, good move by Manual. Pedro did a fantastic job against Jeter getting him to chase the first pitch to end the seventh, and then tying up Alex Rodriguez on an inside pitch, (I loved that) but then it got better, he got him looking on a fastball on the outside corner. OUTSTANDING! I love watching A-Rod walking back to the dugout.
Jerry’s next choice for the 8th had e thinking, what?…who?... Why? I could not figure why Manual brought Valdes in the ninth inning, I never gave him the benefit of the doubt and forgot how sometimes he comes up with a plan that works.

John Maine had a start in Buffalo, he did ok. allowed one run over 4 1/3 innings Johnny walked three and struck out four. He threw 50 of 88 pitches for strikes. I asked about his speed and it was somewhere in the 86-88 mph range with his fastball. John had a lot of issue with the home plate umpire who called a lot of balls that Maine thought should have been strikes, John was clearly frustrated. Fact is the umpire’s strike zone was all over the place so John may have had good reason to complain.
But he was no Takahashi and will have at least one or maybe two more rehab starts before even being considered to return to Flushing. As I write this Takahashi is in the cat bird’s seat for that rotation spot and John has his work cut out for him to knock Takahadhi out of it.
Like I told you guys yesterday had Takahashi struggled and Maine thrived, the Mets could have planned to activate Maine to start five days from Friday's Subway Series opener. But that ain’t happin just yet and maybe never will.
I support Maine and wish him well but I just don’t think I want to see him back and have to worry every time he takes the mound, I am tired of that have not missed it and don’t want it back. Unless Maine has some really impressive starts in AAA I would not want him or Perez back. Maine said again yesterday that he would be willing to go to the pen.

How about that Angel Pagan, can enough be said about what he has contributed to our team? He has been down right filthy. Then there is the rebirth of the one and only Jose Reyes, man oh man is he ever back.
Ike Davis has also been amazing, now if only he learn to pull the inside pitch he would become a full blown home run hitter, we know he has the power.

Big Pelf tonight, I am going to the Cyclones home opener but I will keep up with the game and watch it later tonight.

Tomorrow I pitch in my own game, my God; I am having way too much baseball fun

 

[Sausy]

It couldn't go on forever,the streak had to be broken so I'm not that bummed about losing today...the Yankees looked shaky against the Phillies and against Takahashi on Friday.Can't win em all...Pelfrey struggled but the two two run homers by Teixeira and Granderson hurt him.He battled though and after the home run by Granderson gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead,he stopped em cold there.Didn't give up another hit.Just Phil Hughes shook off the two home runs by Jose Reyes giving the Mets an earlier 3-1 lead and held the Mets down in his seven innings.He's a really good young pitcher in his own right and is coming into his own,got ten wins now.Mike Pelfrey will be fine....so long as he keeps from letting mistakes affect him on the mound,and keep the club in the game he'll work it out and we know how greatly his toughness and resiliency have improved.Has to have better command though.

I hear what you say sonny about Jose and Angel....they have been incredible recently and really make the Mets go.Unfortunately nobody else showed up today to lend support...David Wright is to a greater extent pulling his weight hitting and driving in runs recently but his strikeouts are still too glaring.They are coming in bunches again after he cut down a little getting into his June hot streak.

I don't want to hear John Maine has to start immediately if he gets called up after his next Buffalo start over Takahashi,Dickey and especially Jon Niese.John still hasn't shown the velocity that Jerry Manuel was originally saying he has to show to get back into the starting rotation.His last start in Buffalo last night, while he was decent,only was at tops like 87-88...Manuel was originally saying Maine had to be steady low 90's but hopefully isn't backing off as Maine has lost something with his diminished velocity.The other guys have done the job,and Takahashi after slipping some his last two starts has turned it back around.I really believe now is not the time to make any changes in the rotation.


Hope today was a wonderful day sonny at the Cyclones opener and also you have a great game pitching in your summer league tomorrow!This has got to be the best time of the year for you,with that baseball bonanza!

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Saucy you took the words right outta my mouth, “you can’t win wm all”

Pelfrey lacked command of his split finger fastball, and uncharacteristically fell behind hitters. When you fall behind the hitters you can’t throw a spilt finger fastball anyways, so he was damned if he did and dammed if he didn’t. Too many of his pitches were high especially some of his secondary ones, and the Yankees took advantage of that and made Pelf pay.But he did finish strong which he did not do last Sunday in Baltimore, In fact I thought he pitched better yesterday than he did on Sunday, he really only made two mistakes, but his inconsistent command overall, along with those pitches up in the zone cost him.

The news on Maine gets more and more confusing, now the Mets have said they are not even sure John will get another shot in AAA. I am confused by that cause reports I got was that while John was not all that good he was not terrible either and should be given more time. But Manual has a real hair up his ass ever since Johns last start which lasted about 60 seconds. Jerry has lost all confidence in him.
Manuals latest comment was John will not bump Takahashi out of his spot in the rotation, which I totally onboard with, Jerry also wants John in the pen which John ha said he is willing to do. Fact is John has little to say about it and could even be designated for assignment or even traded (but who would take him?) John has nothing on his contact (as Perez does) to prevent the Mets doing what ever they want with him.
Over the next day or so we will learn if Maine will make at least one more rehab start for Buffalo before being activated. But many are saying, Kevin Burkhardt included, that we may have seen the last of Maine in a Mets uniform. I don’t want him in a Mets uniform now either but I do want him to have the opportunity to work with the Bisons pitching coach or go down to Florida to try and regain some of what he had. Just like Perez, John can not help himself here in Flushing.

The news coming out of Brooklyn last night was better cause the Cyclones won their second straight game including four runs in the fourth. The park was jumpin, I don’t think I have ever seen such a huge crowd, there had to have been close to 10,000 fans. I am horse today from all the shouting and screaming, those were my boys out there I could not contain my excitement about the new season.

What can I say, I love baseball.


!

 

[sonny10305]

Mets lovers do not fret over the Yankees series loss. We still had an excellent road trip 7-2 and that’s huge considering he badly we have played on the road this year. Now I understand we beat weak teams but don’t forget, that’s what we are supposed to do and have not this year till now.

As for Santana, if you look at his whole performance he was as bad as some are saying. He did often pitch from behind in the count early on, and his fastball didn't seem to fool the Yankee hitters, it seemed to not have the normal movement we usually see from Johan which made them very hittable. Thing is when a pitchers fastball comes in flat at under 90 MPH, no good hitter worth a grain of salt aint gonna miss it. Certainly not Yankee hitters.Johan’s other problem was his lack of command of his change-up, we saw him miss high and in to the lefties and high and away to righties. Do you guys notice that? For sure, at least until yesterday, his changeup was his best pitch, trouble was he was unable to locate his fastball with any kind of consistency and some of the Yankees sat on his off-speed pitches or take him for a ride on his mistakes.
Santana did keep the Mets in the game and he only gave up runs in the one inning, you could easily see the difference between his two main pitches which was hard not to notice.Troubling to me was the problem he had when he was pitching out of the stretch or when he got into hitters' counts. Very post Pelfrey like. Pelf needs to talk to Johan bout that.Santana did look better when he started mixing in his slider during the second and third times he faced the Yankee lineup. His changeup had gone from about 75-77 MPH and jumping to 80-81 MPH making it possible for him to keep hitters off balance

Of course the nail in the coffin in yesterday game was that middle-in fastball to Teixeira which was a grand slam. Freakin Teixeira has picks NOW to start hitting again, until the Mets series he could not hit water if he fell out of a boat.
.
I have to say more than Johan’s performance was my disappointment in our offense during Saturday and Sunday’s games, they went to sleep again. That troubled me a lot more than what Santana did.
I have to mention my irritation over Manual substituting Tatis for Carter in late innings. WTF was Tatis doing playing the DH instead if Carter. Was it because he is a right handed hitter and there was a leftie on the mound? Hello….. Jerry, Carter is a lefty and in case you forgot the whole idea behind the DH is an opportunity to put the best batter in your lineup who doesn’t have position. Manual is so hung up on that lefty / righty crap he forgot that it did not apply in that situation. The only way I could have remotely agreed with Manuals decision here was if carter was not a good hitter against Lefties, but he is, he can hit lefties and prolly would have not done what Tatis did and hit into a double play. Jerry…you do know Ike Davis also hits lefties, right?

Last night we got some news about John Maine that is just disturbing, Jerry Manuel told reporters John “didn’t feel well” after his start for Triple-A Buffalo. And was going to be re-examined by team doctors today. Word is his arm is bugging him again, with slight pain, and limiting the movement in his delivery. YIKES!
Manual continues to send negative signals about Maine possible return, things like while there is no room for him in the rotation right now and Maine has not shown he is capable of pitching in relief. Sooooo no spot in rotation and he can’t pitch in relief. Sure sounds like they are going to shut him down.
John did tell Kevin Burkhardt he’s been struggling coming back from elbow surgery, and that he’s still a work in progress and there are times he can’t finish his pitches. But although he couldn’t extend his arm a year ago due to the bone chips, that he no longer has that issue. John thinks he is screwed up mechanically and needs to stand taller so he can throw downhill and prevent his pitches from flattening out. I dono John I still think much of you problems are in your head.
We have to remember the ole clock is ticking on Maine, technically needs to be activated in two weeks, at that point, if the Mets do not want him on the 25–man roster, there going to have to either non-tender him or put him waivers and see what happens So cause there is still some time left why not, send him to the doctor, keep trying to figure out what’s up with him and go from there…

Jenrry Mejiaa was sent to Double-A Brooklyn after Sunday's game and will start in the minors.I guess Manual and company have finally got it…the kid is a starter and is being wasted in relief.Time long over due to stretch that kid out for use later on in this season. I wanna give that a try we have little to loose if he struggles, we could always put him back in the bullpen. Bobby Parnell will be called up from Triple-A today to replace Mejia. I made a call to Buffalo and asked abut Parnell, he has pitched abut 20 games, somewhere around 40.1 innings with a 4.24 ERA. His strike to ball ratio is 41 - 17.
One thought did cross my mind about Mejia and I hope I am wrong here but is it possible this sudden change of heart with the Mets and Mejia is because they are considering him trade bait?

If you can’t make it to Brooklyn and want to see the Cyclones play you can catch them tonight on SNY with Kevin Burhardt doing the play by play. Kevin said he is going to be speaking to Wally Backman on air during the game so try and not miss it. If you have never heard Kevin do a play by play I think you will be impressed the kid does a great job, Bobby O will be in the booth with Kevin.
I will be there and hopefully not the only one wearing an I Like Ike shirt

Go Cyclones..Go Mets

Sorry this post is so long winded, I jusy had a lot to to say today

 

[syam24]

Okay, a very good road trip, even though we lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees. Lack of hitting throughout the lineup the last two days hurt. Santana wasn't too bad on Sunday, that inning included a couple of cheap hits, Johan getting in the way of Ike's throw on the bunt, then the HR that his on top of the fence, which would have been a sac fly in CItifield. He wasn't the Santana of old, but "pitched" well, I thought. The Mets obtained some minor leaguer Jorge Padilla from the Blue Jays. I have no info on him.

 

[Sausy]

Don't worry about it sonny,your take on what's going on around the Mets is always enjoyable and informative.Wouldn't expect or want anything less out of a true baseball lover....be as long winded as you like!Syam,don't have to be so short and sweet either...get a little more wind in your sails!

I just wish Santana's velocity was better though even when he's off his game and some of his other stuff isn't working you know much more often than not he'll adjust and find a way.I still know that he'll keep the Mets in the game...even though he had that previous stinker a bad game by Johann is far and few because of his knowledge of pitching I will trust him if he gets in an early hole.Roy Halladay has been very uneven for Philadelphia,certainly despite pitching well at times and having that perfect game highlight...I'd still take Johann over him.He's tested as a big game pitcher,and Halladay hasn't really had that opportunity with the Blue Jays so he's an unknown quantity.Just Johann having that consistent low 90's velocity makes his other stuff even tougher to deal with,and it's been lacking this year.

I'm disturbed too by the offense shutdown...our middle of the order is slumping collectively and David Wright for whatever reason just still strikes out too much.Had a hit yesterday but also piled up quite a few strikeouts this weekend...Ike Davis still looks streaky as well and has been striking out too much as well.We know Jason Bay also strikes out a lot,so we need better at bats and more focus at the plate because it kills the offense when all three are going bad.Can't get too picky,as Philadelphia has really slumped recently and the Mets had used the seven winning game streak previous to Saturday to surge ahead of the Phils.The Mets can't play great every time out...but they can't get too excited and start reverting into bad habits again.

Pelfrey just wasn't sharp Saturday and those two run home runs he gave up to Granderson and Teixeira cost him.He nonetheless did not allow a hit after the Teixeira home run,and was strong enough to get through the seventh.He is trusting himself more,getting tough when he has to shut em down after getting into trouble...I was so unconvinced coming out of spring training he would get back on that promising path he was taking in the second half of 2008...I just didn't have faith in him and I'm so glad that I was wrong.And so happy that Jon Niese,now healthy again has given the Mets another top of the rotation reliable.

We have Takahashi and Dickey,who would have expected after the complete ineffectiveness of Oliver Perez and the sad,inexplicable collapse of John Maine we still would be in good shape rotation wise?I'm with you sonny about John,I just feel so bad for him.Bone spur procedures shouldn't take this long to recover from and STILL have problems.He's a good guy and when healthy he's another I had great faith in would deliver a solid performance,even when he wasn't sharp.Now I just hope he can somehow find his arm strength again and get back fully to health,even with another organization as it looks dim he will have a future with the Mets.Just sad to see a fine pitcher's career going to waste,and no one knowing quite why everything is going so wrong

Sonny,I'm with you on Mejia....that kind of arm is electric and it could be a franchise one.But if there is any trade to be made,if you can possibly get Cliff Lee and keep him from being reqacquired by the Phillies....well the Mets did draft Matt Harvey from North Carolina and he does draw favorable comparisons to Mike Pelfrey so in a year or so he's ready to be a fifth starter,could be a very interesting rotation.Cliff Lee is going to be a top of the line starter for four or five more years and and Johann would look great anchoring a strong rotation with three talented young pitchers comprising the rest...Mejia is still raw and I don't want to have to wait long for a pennant.It's not as if he were a Steve Strasburg....I would absolutely NEVER give him up if he Mejia was nearly as polished as Strasburg so if Mejia can help land us Cliff Lee,I'm good with it.But if Seattle asks for Ike Davis too,I'm hanging up the phone!

Anyway,please forgive me for being longwinded guys but it's been awhile!We've got Detroit and Minnesota coming to CitiField starting tomorrow and they are both good clubs neck and neck in the AL Central.We may have home advantage but we have to be ready for these two quality clubs...can't take our home record for granted.Let's go Mets!!!




In Conclusiongotta love your support for the Cyclones sonny and I know Wally will get the best out of the guys.And Kevin Burkhardt has such a great studio voice I'm so glad he's gonna be doing some play by play...my only worry is he has been so close to the players he may hold back a little....sonny has mentioned before how tough it is for him to criticize when called for but Kevin is knowledgeable,personable,humorous and intelligent(as sonny has experienced up close and personal)and I'm certain he can grow as a broadcaster in that regard,he's a professional and I'm sure with his rapport with players they can have a trust in him that he will always be fair even if he needs to relay some constructive criticism.

 

[sonny10305]

Wow saucy, I guess this is the battle of the biggest posts. Seriously, it’s great reading your thoughts and contributions to this thread. Yup, Syam is of just a few words but he is consistent in his posts and fun to read and I very much appreciate them.

So where to begin today, First up I guess will be in the tired of hearing and who cares department, that could only mean Ollie Perez. No doubt all of you have been on bated breath waiting for news on that one. Well he became eligible to leave the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. He’s still in Port St. Lucie, working to get his strength back in his right knee; he now has tendinitis in it, sure…. Why not.
He is supposedly building up his pitch count and not much more. So let’s break it down shall we. So far this season, Perez has lost his command, lost his starting job, refused a minor-league assignment and redeveloped pain in his knee. Yeah…we really can’t wait to see him back in a Mets uniform, Manual said “We haven’t made a decision on him at this point,”
Someone I do care about is John Maine who missed his doctor’s appointment yesterday regarding the discomfort he has had with his elbow. He is now expected to go to the doctors sometime in the next couple days, but there is no exact date yet planned. Omar Minaya said "Yeah, we're probably going to see a doctor when we get back." Probably??? Come on guys help save Maine, you have got to find out what is wrong with this kid.

Saucy you wrote about our rotation and I was happy you agreed with most of my feelings there. We will just have to wait and see how Mejia does in AAA developing his pitching but I am thinking more and more once he does the Mets will trade him. But if we do, I only want a quality starter like Lee, and I am not willing to give up too much to get him. Saucy mentioned Davis and I damn near chocked at just the thought. Like saucy I think we can never give him up for anyone, yup just "hang up the phone"…no fucking way.

Right now we are in position for the wild card hands down. But if we want more, like winning the division, we are going to need another starter. Oh, and our bats have got to going into comas every other week. That applies mostly to Jason Bay who has been a huge disappointment at the plate. His defense has been outstanding but his bat needs to wake up and wake up soon.

We are really going to be put to the teat the nest six games starting with Detroit, the Mets bats are going to have a challenge with Justin Verlander's and that filthy fastball of his, and Niese will have deal with Miguel Cabrera. The Mets have not faced Miguel since his days in Florida back in ’07. If you’re a Mets fan you prolly remember that last game and what happened with Cabrera, Reyes and Olivo. So here we are three years have passed and Cabrera is batting about .325 leads the Major League with I think its 19 home runs and at least 60 RBI. That batting average puts him in the top ten and he is looking to improve that to go for the Triple Crown. Yup he is going to be a terror for us. I have to say though I do have a lot of faith in Niese and his being able to, dare I say, dominate Cabrera, it could happen seriously…it can.
But first we have to get past Justin Verlander, I hate to remind you guys about his no hitters in ‘07.We can only hope that tonight he will regress back to 2008 when he struggled and went 11-17 that’s the Verlander I want to see tonight.
I was thinking also that Niese and Verlander are a good match up, Verlander may have that killer fastball but Niese also has a low-90s fastball, cutter, and massive curveball. We need more than for Niese to keep the Tigers at bay, we will desperately need some offense. We can not have a repeat of what happened in the Yankees which we were held scoreless through the final 15 innings of that series, the last run we scored was that run in the third inning of Saturday with Jose Reyes.

I hope some of you got a chance to watch the Cyclones last night, it was a very fun game which we won 5-2. I got to the park early and meet up with some of the new guys all of them full of hope and so excited to be there.
A big part of the win was due to Cory Vaughn, you may remember I told you guys how excited I was to see him play with us this year and he was one to watch. I asked him before the game what the plan was for the night, he looked at me grinned and shook his head up and down and said “win the game and steal some bags” Well his plan to steal a base did not happen but he did manage his first ML home run which was also the first for the Cyclones this season, he also a doubled and played some dandy defense, great night for the kid. I tried to get to him after the game but he was king of the hill and surrounded by people so I passed him and found another very interesting new pitcher Ryan Fraser who pitched one outstanding inning, I mean outstanding! Ryan was with pitching Coach Rick Tomlin. I have gotten pretty friendly with Rick so I went over to say hey and Rick put his arms around Rick and said” watcha think of my boy”? Rick is working with Ryan on his changeup learning how to control the speed of the ball, One thing you have to know about Rick is that he is beloved by his pitchers the guy is so supportive and genuinely concerned for his boys doing well that they just can’t help but love Grandpa Rick I have spent a lot of time with Rick he ha even offered to help me with my game, just a sweetheart of a guy.

Darrell Ceciliani, who plays in the outfield caught my eye and motion me to come over. “That boy Vaughn is something else, right? That would be Darrell giving a shout out for the new kid. Darrell had a good game as well making outstanding catches in both the fourth and fifth innings. but was more interested in talking about the pitcher Wes Wrenn and Cory Vaughn. “With guys like that and Wally Backman we are going to have one hell of a season. Well said Darrell
Speaking of Backman I actually saw him smile for the first time, it was a new experience for me and I liked it. Seriously though, Wally can be very intense, VERY INTENSE, but he loves his boys and gives them credit and way to go along with an ass whoopin now and then and they all respect and love the man. I have been told by many that Backman is going to do things differently and the guys can expect to play very hard ball. We got a taste of Wally last night in a suicide squeeze play that worked brilliantly. One of the kids I was sitting with said with a gleam in his eye “That’s our Wally”

Then in walked Kevin Burkhardt and I knew this time I was not going to let him get away without speaking with him again. Last time Kevin was at a Cyclones game I missed him. Kevin made the rounds congratulating all the guys and just throwin out the love all over the place. Kevin is so loved by the Mets players and to know him is to know why, although he does not spend much time with the Cyclones you could tell by the way he spoke to the guys that he had been keeping up with all of them. They just don’t come much better than Kevin.
Kevin and I talked about the Mets rotation and in particular John Maine. Kevin keeps up with how Johnny is doing through Pelfrey who is a very close friend of Maine, Kevin and Pelf play hoops together. We also spoke about Daniel Murphy and Ike Davis, Kevin is aware of my friendship with Ike. In fact I was wearing my I Like Ike shirt and Kevin said “I just got one of those, so cool”.

A terrific game of baseball and an even better day of camaraderie with the players. For me a day like yesterday is one of life’s great pleasures.

 

[sonny10305]

Soooo then THAT happened.

Holly smokes what a game, so much fun beatin up on those Tigers.
Our bats got hot, our relief pitching was stellar and Angel Pagan tried to hit for the cycle.
As to Jon Niese, Manual might have been wise not to bring hi back after that rain delay. One hour is too long for a pitcher to sit, and if that was not bad enough the Mets had a very long inning when the game resumed causing Jon to wait even longer. I am sure he threw pitches, prolly rode a bike but never the less as an athlete and a pitcher I can tell you that the body needs time to recover after that long a time, it’s tough to go out there and pitch. I am sure it was a tough decision for Jerry to make cause I am sure he wanted to give the kid a chance to continue he was looking sharp before the rain came. My feeling is as I am sure many of you who are reading this and do any kind of working out know, it’s sometimes a little hard after the body rests for a long time between working out to jump back in to something as strenuous as pitching. Plus ya gotta think that the humidity was rough on what had to be a difficult ball to handle. After Niese went back he did not pitch well which did not surprise me but I get why he sent him back in the 5th so as to get the win, as it turned out he ended up he was one batter short and did not get the win.

Nieve was outstanding in relief, and welcome back to Bobby Parnell who also pitched very very well, if he can keep that up we may have our 8th inning man. Then lo and behold Igarashi came in the ninth and slammed the door on the Tigers. It was really great to see Igarashi do that cause he has not been pitching well at all since coming back, maybe last night will bring back his confidence. and with Mejia gone we need him to do the late-inning mop up. .

The highlight for me was the beating we gave to the Tigers ace Justin Verlander I mean we torched that poor bustard, and then Jay Shorz came in and pitched his first ML game, he had to be very nervous, he looked terrified on the mound, and then he hit the first TWO batters he faced, I mean had that ever happen before?, Poor Sap, he was mumbling to himself on the mound sweating like a pig and was clearly out of his element. He was on the mound for like a minute and a half and allowed 5 runs. That’s an ERA of 76.50, Yikes,
I actually felt sorry for the guy I, mean ya just had to.

It is heating up for the return of Carlos Beltran, It looks like he is really getting close to returning and will begin his minor-league rehabilitation assignment in Port St. Lucie tomorrow
Here’s what you need to remember, rehab assignments can last no longer than 20days, so If you count on your fingers and toes that means Carlos will be ready immediately after the All-Star break,
Someone said he is still limping a bit but from what I am told that’s because of the brace he is still wearing and not cause of pain in his leg.
The big question is what happens in the outfield. First of all we don’t know how well Carlos will play in his first few games; I think Manual will go a little slow with him just to see how he handles that outfield especially at Citi. I don’t think, as some have suggested, that we will see Carlos in left or right, but rather he will play center were he belongs. Soooo what happens to Pagan? Well for sure he ain’t goin anywhere and will get less playing time, but Angel has always expected that and is totally cool with the idea. He still talks to Beltran almost every day and considers him a friend and a mentor. Carlos has been cheering Angel on all season. I expect to se Bay and Francours playing time cut a bit as well, how jerry will plug em all in will be interesting, but one thing for sure is that all four of those guys are gonna play.

Tonight it will be Dicky against Bonderman
Jerry Seinfeld will be in the booth with Gary and Keith and help call the game, Jerry is a big Mets fan and of course knows Keith from that classic Seinfeld episode he did. I am thinkin Jerry may also have something to say about that whole alddy Gaga thing. She was ih his box and something tells me Jerry was less than thrilled with what she did. Maybe he will be the gentleman and not mention it but I hope maybe Keith will bring it up. Jerry is expected to do at least innings and should be fun.

How cute was Kevin B sitting in the front seat behind home plate waiting to be recognized by Keith and Gary.

 

[sonny10305]

So lets see, how can we top that game on Wednesday? Hmmmm.. how bout a shutout.
R.A. Dickey pitched 8 shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 4. He is the first pitcher in history to start his Mets career with 6 straight wins. I was salivating over this guy last month saying over and over in this thread that I wanted him to come to Flushing, now you know why. Even though he did not have good command of his knuckleball in early innings he did what he does in that situation and he turned to his fastball but he found his knuckleball and he cruised through the rest of the game. he is now 6–0 with a 2.33 ERA in his six starts this season…
I was a little miffed that manual, did not give Dickey a shot at a complete game shutout, Jerry babbled something about wanting to keep K-Rod fresh and not miss too many games. Ok I get that, but not in this situation, this was special, you had a pitcher who was clearly on his game and should have easily gone the distance, Dickey had thrown 97 pitches and could have gone all the way. Manual robbed him of that chance. One more day off for K-Rod would not have affected his game, this was a situation that required better management on Manuals part. But that’s whist he does sometimes. For the most part I like what Jerry has been doing, I keep hearing how much he is loved and respected by the guys, I just hate when he does stuff like not letting pulling Dickey finish the game.

Ike Davis proved once again last night that he is a serious threat against the lefty pitchers, I had to laugh when Jim Leyland brought in the lefty to face Davis, Ike mustta thought,watch this, and singled to bring in two runs. How did that work out for ya Jim Bo? When I saw that pitching change I said, I guess Leland doesn’t know Ike very well

The Mets are 15–4 in June, during which they are averaging five runs per game, and our starting rotation has a 3.05 ERA.

Angel pagan was taken out of the game with a little muscle spasm in his side. Pagan actually tweaked it hitting in the batting cage during the afternoon. It was bad enough that he wore a large heat pack in the clubhouse before batting practice on the field, but not bad enough to keep out of the lineup. He felt it again when he hit a ball foul during the fifth inning. Later Angel said he just didn't want to let it get worse. Jerry Manual said Pagan would get the day off Thursday and that he was very optimistic that it's just a one-day thing.

So what did I think of the Seinfeld visit to the booth? Well it was fun for a while but it went on to long (4 innings) and got old real fast. It became a distraction in fact I watched the last inning Jerry was there with the sound off.

John Maine had a second opinion on his original diagnosis of Tendinitis and no structural damage.
In the next couple of days, Manuel and Warthen will decide what is next for John.

 

[syam24]

Two very good wins vs the Tigers!! A thumping on Tues, and last nite another well pitched game from Dickey. The home cooking is doing great by the Mets. It certainly appears that Jose Reyes is back to where we've seen before, and hoped he could get back to again. Since returning to the leadoff spot, he's been "en fuego". He sets the pace for the rest of the lineup, no doubt about it. Hopefully the muscle spasms Pagan has go away quickly, he's been very consistent in the lineup wherever he bats, and from whichever side, a very pleasant surprise for us. He's showed signs over the years, but always ended up with some injury. His baseball savvy is much improved this season as well. Let's keep hammerin' the AL, Let's go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

What a disappointing loss last night.
Chris carter got us back in the game and but then DWright could not get it done striking out with the bases loaded. Then In the 7th David struck out again to end the game in the 9th.
On the bright won the series and at least kept fighting.

Hisanori Takahashi allowed 6 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks in 4 innings. He did manage to strike out 4. He also got ahead of the hitters several times but just couldn’t seem to put them away, and ended up walking four in his four-plus innings, I think Takagashi's outing just convinces me all the more that now that we are in serious contention for the NL east we gotta get another starter…we gotta. I keep coming back to lee who I would love to get, here is a guy who has struck out 76 batters this season and walked four. The Mets may be willing to trade for Lee without requiring a negotiating window to sign him to an extension, which means Lee would be a rental, and should he leave as a free agent after the year, the Mets would get compensatory draft picks for him. I have to think Lee wants a taste of free agency he is going to want that..
Bobby Parnell was impressive once again he struck out three in a scoreless inning of relief, and Igarashi also pitched well

With Pagan out for a day or so I was concerned about for our center field and losing Angels bat, but Jesus Feliciano is filling in very nicely. He went 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored and made some nice plays in center. My only complaint was I thought his base running could have been better like when he ran from second to third that single by David Wright in the fourth, I think he shudda tried to make it all the way home and could have had he busted it. Those are the kinds of things that make the difference some times.

The Mets optioned Raul Valdes to the minors last night to make room for Josh Thole, who was needed as a backup with Rod Barajas suffering with a back problem. Hopefully Josh will get a chance to catch this time.

Carlos Beltran played five innings in a minor-league rehab game last night. He was hitless in two at bats, walked once.

 

[sonny10305]

Great game last night, Mike Pelfrey allowed six hits and two runs over six innings, AND he didn't walk anyone, ya gotta love that. He also got his tenth win of the season throwing117 pitches, which is a lot, and worked a lot of 3-2 counts, all those pitches came from the Twins hitters fouling off one pitch after another, but then Pelf won the battle with most of em. Ok so he was not his best, but he kept us in the game before giving the ball to the pen which has been awesome. Once again Bobby Parnell pitched a scoreless inning Pedro Feliciano struck out two batters, and then Francisco Rodriguez who of course had to give us a little drama not much this time but a little. before closing the door on the Twins. He threw 24 pitches but I got a little concerned when he lost his balance and staggered after one pitches, sure hope that ankle isn’t acting up again.

It sure is great having David Wright and Jose Reyes back doin what they do; both of em had outstanding night both defensively and offensively.

I also loved watching Josh Thole catch, I had the pleasure of spending some time with him in Buffallo a while back, just a sweetheart of a guy.

I dono but I think those Twinks were a little intimidated by our guys do ya think?
What happened to all those fundamentals, solid pitching, and homerun power from the middle of the lineup? I did not see much of that yesterday what I did see was two errors in the field, so starting pitching, and, except for Span, very little power from the big guns. Yup we intimidated them,

Then wonder of wonders Jason Bay hit a monster RBI double, Finally!

Ruben Tejada continues to a make us think Castillo who?

I am pitching today so I am going to miss suntans outing against his old team but you can be sure my DVR will be cranking.

 

[sonny10305]

The Mets were shutout by the Twinks yesterday 6-0
I am officially getting a little worried about Santana.

It began very badly for him in the first inning when he gave up 40 pitches and gave up four runs His fastball is dropping like a rock and that is now really beginning to concern me. He has lost 4 MPH on his fastball since ’06 when he was throwing 93 mph and now he averages 89 mph. He no longer seems to have that devastating changeup, Remember when he could set up the hitters up with his fastball and then ties them up in knots with his changeup? Not so much now. Of course the Twins know him very well. So I am thinking they’re lying off his money pitch and waiting for the fastball which no longer has much bite. Add to that the problem with the speed of that pitch which causes his changeup to be less effective. Clearly he was trying to establish his pitches early in the game but that actually ended up hurting him. Later you could see Johan started throwing his slider a little bit more and moving the ball around. But the damage had been done by then. I wanna keep telling myself he will break out of this funk he is in, we have to remember traditionally Johan pitches better in the second half, here is hoping we can all look forward to that.

I love Gary Cohen but I have to give him a spanking for bringing up that story that has been going around about Santana and that women in Florida, and even going so far as to suggest that was why Johan is not pitching well. Stick to the magnificent job you do in the booth and stop speculating about BS like that.

On the other side of all this was Pavano who was magnificent, very efficient, getting ahead of mostly every hitter, then because the Mets were down 5 runs they were forced to be aggressive but Pavano did a great job spotting all of his pitches.

Enough about Johan, now let’s talk about my boy Ike Davis. If you had any doubts that the book is now clearly open about him I am here to tell you it is. You only have to see the amount of off speed pitches he has been getting, loads of breakin stuff away as proof of what I mean. He has got to learn to hit those pitches; Ike is a very smart kid and one Hell of a ball player so I have no doubt he will adjust to that very soon.

Congrats to ex Mets closer Billy Wagner on his 400th career save. Billy is a Brave now and plans to retire at the end of this season.