New York Mets 2012

[sonny10305]

Well said saucy it was a nice offensive explosion yesterday nice to see after so many games with the bats in a coma. Hefner was awesome and how great is it to have Francisco back after 6 weeks on the DL.Yeah, he can be scary sometimes but compared to the alternatives I'll take it. Parnell cannot pitch the 9th he just can’t. Frankie came in with two outs when Parnell started to come unglued and one pitch later 6-6-3 double play game over bye bye so welcome back Frankie.

In Buffalo Kirk Nieuwenhuis is resting comfortably waiting on word on how serious his foot is should have more to tell you tomorrow. Right now he is waiting it out to see if his foot improves or if he needs surgery, the pain he is feeling is in his heal and on the bottom of his foot waiting on word if there is any damage I will be speaking to him again Monday maybe there will be more info then.Meantime Duda who started out with a dud in Buffalo picked it up yesterday with 2 RBI and is feeling more comfortable

Santana will be rehabbing with us in Brooklyn today with the Cyclones supposed to pitch 3 innings Plan right now is for Johan to return to the mound against the Braves on Saturday, Hefner will return to the pen.

How about our boy Murphy with another great game yesterday going 4-4 which is the fourth time he has done that this year. He leads the Mets in Doubles with 33 and is 3rd in the NL.

Take a bow Murph

 

[Sausy]

Matt Harvey had a rough outing with the Mets losing the final game of the big West Coast shuffle to the Padres,7-3.Didn't have his command but the coaches and of course Matt emphasized to keep moving and improving,and these lumps can hsappen to anyone.He seems to have a very intelligent understanding of what a tough competitor requires....seems to have it in his makeup.Even the greats have their clunkers,or aren't always on but a willingness to learn,observe,adapt and always compete determines the average from the good to the excellent and Mattt clearly has made it known he strives always for excellence.

 

[sonny10305]

Harvey got hit yesterday I did not see it I had a game in Brooklyn but a Mets player told me Matt
had trouble with his fastball command and when he tried to go away, it was off about half a foot on both sides, he just couldn’t find the strike zone. No worries it’s expected he will not dominate every time His next start will be on Friday against the Braves at Citi Field

Zack Wheeler was supposed to make his debut in Buffalo yesterday but was rained out. There will be a makeup game today with a doubleheader. Wheeler will start Game 1, and Jenrry Mejia handling the second game.

Big day in Brooklyn yesterday with the Johan Santana pitching with the Cyclones in his rehab start. It went really well, Santana threw 3.0 scoreless innings he allowed one hit, one walk, and striking out three in our win over the Auburn Doubledays 8-1.
After his start Johan went to the pen and threw an additional three simulated innings that way he brought his pitch count to 90. The plan remains for Johan remains for him to be activated from the DL on Saturday, to face the Atlanta Braves.
Later Santana said that he was in charge of his pitches and he felt pretty good being able to throw some fastballs and some changeups and some sliders.

Lemme tell you about the crowd that showed up to support Johan they were awesome I mean yells and cheers and screams every time he threw a pitch just total goose bump time. Johan took time out early to greet fans and sign stuff making sure to see everyone who wanted to see him. Johan himself ever so humble said later how thrilled he was at the support of the Brooklyn fans he was very humbled and touched. Johan also took time out to say how impressed he was with the Cyclones as a team full so full of talent. Johan reached out to a few of us he remembered from last year in Florida when he was recovering from his shoulder surgery. He talked about how he was able to build relationships with some of the players and to see them develop into what they are now is a privilege and great to see. We are going to be talking about Johns visit for a long time to come.

 

[Sausy]

Harvey got hit yesterday I did not see it I had a game in Brooklyn but a Mets player told me Matt
had trouble with his fastball command and when he tried to go away, it was off about half a foot on both sides, he just couldn’t find the strike zone. No worries it’s expected he will not dominate every time His next start will be on Friday against the Braves at Citi Field

Zack Wheeler was supposed to make his debut in Buffalo yesterday but was rained out. There will be a makeup game today with a doubleheader. Wheeler will start Game 1, and Jenrry Mejia handling the second game.

Big day in Brooklyn yesterday with the Johan Santana pitching with the Cyclones in his rehab start. It went really well, Santana threw 3.0 scoreless innings he allowed one hit, one walk, and striking out three in our win over the Auburn Doubledays 8-1.
After his start Johan went to the pen and threw an additional three simulated innings that way he brought his pitch count to 90. The plan remains for Johan remains for him to be activated from the DL on Saturday, to face the Atlanta Braves.
Later Santana said that he was in charge of his pitches and he felt pretty good being able to throw some fastballs and some changeups and some sliders.

Lemme tell you about the crowd that showed up to support Johan they were awesome I mean yells and cheers and screams every time he threw a pitch just total goose bump time. Johan took time out early to greet fans and sign stuff making sure to see everyone who wanted to see him. Johan himself ever so humble said later how thrilled he was at the support of the Brooklyn fans he was very humbled and touched. Johan also took time out to say how impressed he was with the Cyclones as a team full so full of talent. Johan reached out to a few of us he remembered from last year in Florida when he was recovering from his shoulder surgery. He talked about how he was able to build relationships with some of the players and to see them develop into what they are now is a privilege and great to see. We are going to be talking about Johns visit for a long time to come.

Great pics,Sonny!Glad Johann did well and made such a positive impression,it will good to see him back here again with the Mets very soon!

 

[sonny10305]

Kirk Nieuwenhuis got the news on his foot late last night it confirmed that the plantar fascia has only a partial tear which means that surgery will not be needed and he can play through the injury. He will be headin to St. Luice to begin a rehab assignment in a couple of days and he is now officially on the DL
So he got good news on his birthday I will keep you guys who are fans informed on how he is doing.

Not as positive news however for Tim Byrdak who has a tear in the anterior capsule of his left shoulder, surgery is pretty much a given here Garrett Olson is coming up from Buffalo to take Tim’s spot on the active roster.

Zack Wheeler pitched really well last night in Buffalo, struck out seven and allowed two runs, he came up one run short for the win and got a no decision. Zack pitched 4 2/3 innings, his fastball was in the mid-90s, and he threw 61 of his 101 pitches for strikes. Good start.

 

[Sausy]

Thanks for the update,sonny.Glad to hear about Kirk,hopefully he can finish strong but sorry hearing about Tim Byrdak's shoulder injury.Rough break,hopefully he can come back from that like Chris and Johann have done this year.

Good first game at AAA for Zack Wheeler,not able to get through five innings but a promising start.Lucas Duda hit a home run in that game,first of a doubleheader and it looks like the Dude is starting to get xcomfortable at the plate again.

 

[sonny10305]

Yeah I forgot to mention Duda's homer which was his third since going to AAA so maybe he has found his stroke again.
We were sorta expecting the better news on Kirk cause he said testerday before geting the news that it felt better and he was able to put weight on the foot again without a lot of pain

 

[Sausy]

I just was bummed by tonight's game against the Marlins.13-0.....worst home thrashing since 2008.Giancarlo Stanton is so fucking strong...two laser home runs.Just sick of seeing our lineup forced again to fight from behind.We strike out too much,we don't create enough runs despite our first half being outstanding with two out.Chris young tonight,Jonathan Niese the other night....we have to get better efforts.It's amazing David Wright is still hitting well with this lineup simply not protecting him and feeling forced to try to do something big because the starting pitcher has them in a hole early on....now he's slumping big time.In addition obviously to the bullpen,this club needs to add a bat that is consistent,doesn't strike out and can help extend Mets at bats.I hate the strikeouts....you generate NOTHING.Unless you hit for high enough average and work the count a lot,generating a high number of walks striking out is something that should be cut down a great deal.Too pissed to say more,maybe tomorrow or Friday.

 

[syam24]

Cant figure these guys out. Have a decent road trip to the West Coast, and come home and drop two in a row, including last nite's disaster. As Saucy said need better efforts from the starting rotation to give the beleaguered lineup a shot at doing something. Gets pretty frustrating as a fan, can only imagine what the team goes thru. Let's go Mets!!!

 

[sonny10305]

I just was bummed by tonight's game against the Marlins.13-0.....worst home thrashing since 2008.Giancarlo Stanton is so fucking strong...two laser home runs.Just sick of seeing our lineup forced again to fight from behind.We strike out too much,we don't create enough runs despite our first half being outstanding with two out.Chris young tonight,Jonathan Niese the other night....we have to get better efforts.It's amazing David Wright is still hitting well with this lineup simply not protecting him and feeling forced to try to do something big because the starting pitcher has them in a hole early on....now he's slumping big time.In addition obviously to the bullpen,this club needs to add a bat that is consistent,doesn't strike out and can help extend Mets at bats.I hate the strikeouts....you generate NOTHING.Unless you hit for high enough average and work the count a lot,generating a high number of walks striking out is something that should be cut down a great deal.Too pissed to say more,maybe tomorrow or Friday.

Cant figure these guys out. Have a decent road trip to the West Coast, and come home and drop two in a row, including last nite's disaster. As Saucy said need better efforts from the starting rotation to give the beleaguered lineup a shot at doing something. Gets pretty frustrating as a fan, can only imagine what the team goes thru. Let's go Mets!!!

Usually I let games like that roll of my back but I am seriosly concerned about my boys
What is they say.....A picture is worth a thousand words and in this case says volumes

 

[Ninja108]

Whether it's the Mets,Red Sox etc.. it has to be frustrating for players knowing how much talent they have and are unable to make it show on the field.

 

[Sausy]

Glad we could a complete game out of RA Dickie...five hits,one run allowed with ten strikeouts in a 6-1 Mets victory over the Marlins. DWright had two hits and an RBI....got a couple of clutch RBI from Andres Torres who has been missing in action most of the year offensively. After the 13-0 embarassment we really could use a solid game like that. We just need to put more of them together.

 

[sonny10305]

I mentioned that Tim Byrdak will probably need surgery on his shoulder and now he has said that he will, no date set as yet but Tim had a tough choice to make he is almost 40 and he knows that it is possible to his pitching career to be over but he wants to get it a shot and is of the positive mindset that he could be back on the mound by the All-Star break next season. Tim will be a free agent next year but another factor in his decision was his lifestyle is affected by the injury cause the guy has trouble just playing with his kids so all the more reason to have the procedure. In a heartbreaking moment Tim while deciding on the surgery had the very difficult task of talking to his two kids and telling them there's a real good chance that dad might not play big league baseball again. The guys on the team are really gonna miss Tim not just for his work on the mound but his mischievous and delish sense of humor he can always be counted on to lift your sprits and make the clubhouse fun. Just ask Kevin Burkhardt you are never safe whenever Tim is lurking around you


So are we all in agreement as to who should be the NL Cy Young winner this year? RA Dickey of course.

Lucas Duda continues to pay well in Buffalo and I am starting to think based on what has been happening with him it is a real possibility now that Jason Bay’s playing time now reduced Lucas could be back in a Mets uniform soon. I hope he is feeling better today yesterday he had to come out of the lineup with a miserable toothache.

So other than the awesome complete 5 hit game Dickey pitched yesterday had to be Jose Reyes loosing that shallow fly hit ball hit by DWright. Seriously how sweet was that? Especially given that it was David.

 

[Sausy]

Then the Mets go out and fail to support Matt Harvey,letting this new Atlanta pitcher look like Cy Young giving up only three hits.Meanwhile Matt Harvey pitches six innings,allowing two runs and though a bit wild showing more than enough toughness bouncing back from his last start when he give up five runs.Rookie Josh Edgin gave up the other two runs and again it's just too up and down with this bullpen.I know I'm being tough but I'm seeing stuff now that except for Ruben Tejada we have almost no building blocks of the future we can count on....be it Davis,Murphy,Valdespin,Duda,Nieuwenhuis,Thole,even Jon Niese.Are they overrated or good prospects?Jury is still out and that isn't good going into the offseason.Why would we even consider trading David Wright either as he would only be under the control of other clubs for one more year if he is traded after this winter(after the Mets exercise their option for 2013.....it would be voided if he's just traded without it).One year likely won't net surefire prospects....Beltran for Zack Wheeler like last season would be tough to replay as teams are likely to only trade their best prospects for longer term returns.Plus David is so important for the team,clubhouse AND community and it would definitely set the Mets back to have their most talented and dependable player,who is still not even 30 yet,traded for a bunch of good but not great prospects who may find themselves in the same questionable status as the players mentioned above.

Now I haven't given up on those guys but one of the most crucial reasons the Met shave failed in the econd half is the inability of others to grow as the season wears on...as of course the injuries to Johann Santana and Dillon Gee.

 

[syam24]

Matt Harvey pitched decent enough, a rather inconsistent beginning to the game, but soon got into a pretty good groove. Yes, the offense was nonexistent, Bay hit a good shot to center that was run down by Bourne, and Rob Johnson had a double, but pretty quiet bats. I really thought a key play was in the the first, the third baseman stabs a ball backhanded headed toward the left field corner. If Chipper were at third, probably would have been a double, his reflexes have slowed, but with Francisco there, it's just a loud out. I felt in my heart "here we go again." Let's see how Johan does tonite, Let's go Mets!!

 

[Sausy]

I just can't take this.WTF is going on with Santana now?An inning and a third,EIGHT hits,Eight earned runs and Hefner hasn't kept things under control.9-1 Atlanta and it looks like an embarassment....like we're going to come back from this deficit after the way we've played in the second half.Why do we get teased EACH year with good first halves just to get our asses handed to us on a plate after the All Star Break these past three seasons.Does David Wright want to even stay around now? Who the hell is ready to contribute from the minors?Matt Harvey has the talent and passion but may lack the control and ability to showff a key off speed pitch to keep people off balance....is he a third guy in the rotation ideally being masqueraded as an ace?Zack Wheeler?Michael Fulmer behind him?Jeurys Familia?Is anyone going to answer the bell?
Any offensive player?Kirk....Lucas....Ike....Josh...Jordanny?WHO can we depend on other than DWRight and Ruben Tejada,and maybe Daniel Murphy?

Sorry for being so down,but why do they absolutely seem incapable of playing a stretch like they did earlier?Injuries sure,but you can't use them as an excuse forever.SOMEBODY has to get through to these players that New York will not continue to put up with second half dives,of playing us for fools with hope that everything is gonna change and we'll return to glory days again just to get it pulled back like we're suckers.I'm tired of it.

Terry Collins has to say in no uncertain terms....you either put up or we're done with you.Nice only works with mature,dependable players who you know won't constantly make the same mistakes and look bad and play god awful fundamental baseball.No,you can't always win...but in New York you CAN'T become irrelevant either.And at leasty we should have teams that give it their all AND don't play themselves out of chances to win. I don't doubt this Mets club plays hard but you can't be competitive if your offense,starting pitching,relief pitching and defense start taking turns...some at the same time...to give games away.Bad Sausy hates to come out and snarl but our boys haven't given me or any Met fan any confidence whatsoever they play the game right.

 

[Ninja108]

Sad to say on Santana but I think his career is coming close to an end. The spirit is there but the body simply can't take it anymore.

 

[sonny10305]

Dwight’s WTF is going on face shows his frustration last night.



Oh Saucy, bad bad Saucy, what would we do without you tellin it like it is I am sure Syam will be in soon to add his frustration as well. I missed the game lucky me but dad tells me that Santana had no command at all and his location was way off. It is being described now as “rust” seriously…RUST??? Good grief what will they come up with next, his ERA is above 17. now What is wrong with Santana I don’t know but I will remain optimistic although Ninja makes a good point I do see him bouncing back this season cause he is too hard working and too good an athlete to go out like this he will figure it out.
Dad also told me that there was a very positive note to yesterday game and that was the bullpen which pitched surprisingly well, so there is that. With so many things going wrong with our ream I need to remind you guys of how hard these guys work and how frustrating it is for them to watch the team melt down into a pile of goo.
I will leave the beating up to the others posting here, go ahead cause it needs to be said but I can’t do that I have to many personal relationships on the team and know first hand how badly they all feel so I cannot add to that. My job as a Mets fan is to pick them up where I can encourage them and offer positive thoughts even in spite of what has been happing that what I have always tried to do and I won’t ever stop. They are The NY Mets my team no matter what and at the start of every game I think this will be the one they start to turn it around and I remain hopeful.

On the other end are my Cyclones, we won their sixth straight home game last night including my boy Kevin Plawecki who hit his 4th home run of the year. But mostly it was Hansel Robles who was perfect through 7 innings. It is kids like that these up and comers who keep me going watching them develop is the greatest kick I just live for games like last nights.

The Cyclones have a 5 o’clock game today and then I jet up to Buffalo for a couple of days to check in on the Bisons I am very anxious to see Zack Wheeler who by the way pitched five no-hit innings in his second Triple-A start I also want to see how Duda is doing which has been really good since going to AAA. I won’t be posting for a few days I will stay in Buffalo till Weds morning and then head home and hopefully I will have more Bisons news for you guys. See you then.

 

[sonny10305]

Santana had no command at all and his location was way off. his ERA is above 17. .

Obviously I meant in his last 4 starts,but I am sure you knew that

 

[Sausy]

Obviously I meant in his last 4 starts,but I am sure you knew that

I do,indeed....I get anal with these things sometimes!

Very good effort by Jon Niese last night.....pitched tough when he had to bear down and gave the Mets eight innings allowing just one run on six hits.Of course,between Josh Edgin and and unfathomably woeful Frank Francisco in the ninth nearly blew things up and could have caused the Mets a devastating psychological blow if they had lost the game allowing four runs in the inning to make a comfortable 6-1 lead a far too close for comfort 6-5 margin. Fortunately Jon Rauch ended things with a strikeout,but even that had some nerve racking drama as it was in the dirt and catcher Rob Johnson at first couldn't get a handle on it..... then fired to Ike Davis at first who handled it perfectly as it JUST beat the runner to end the game.

David Wright came up huge with two doubles and an RBI,Ike Davis had two clutch hits driving in D Wright and looked like the Ike we know he can be. Jordanny Valdespin hit what turned out to be the game leading home run and continues to show that he needs to be part of the Mets future....so long as he keeps his attitude positive and cuts out the immature shit he'll be fine.Mets can really use his energy and developing power.