NY Mets 2013

[Sausy]

Disappointing follow up to last night's exhilirating victory. Mets fall 3-2 to the Dodgers as Jeremy Hefner was terrific, one run and only three hits with four strikeouts in seven innings but Scott Rice faltered in the ninth allowing two runs after giving up a couple of hits...infield hit off of Bobby Parnell scoring the winning run. Ike Davis did hit his fourth homer to open the ninth but Mets were sent back quietly after that, and missed a number of opportunities to expand their earlier lead, a problem that frequently shows up in recent years..getting some runs early but not capitalizing on them. Sorry to see especially because Jeremy Hefner was doing everything he can do, focused and in command, which gives you optimism he can be a very solid fourth or fifth starter even with his early season frustrations.

 

[Sausy]

Zach Wheeler is not doing too well right now, seems to be regressing and I don't know if he just doesn't like pitching in Las Vegas.
Had another frustrating start where after getting hit around a bit to start the game he was fine the next four innings, and completely unraveled in the fifth....giving up five runs , six hits and though he struck out 7 he could not hold on to a six run lead and Las Vegas lost the lead and the game to Tacoma 13-12 as the relief was just as lacking. Also Kirk Nieuwenhuis returned to the starting lineup and had an RBI hit but struck out four times as well. No one is pushing the panic button for Zach but his performances are distressing, he isn't showing a mature approach he needs to withstand the disadvantages of pitching in such a hitter's park. He needs to figure things out soon but at this point doesn't seem to have the mental toughness and ability to mix his pitches and bulldog determination Matt Harvey has, and yet almost all so called experts were saying Wheeler had a higher upside as an ace than Harvey. I was buying into the hype, but dealing with adversity has proven far more difficult for Wheeler than anyone anticipated. Well, he better start to show it or the Mets would be well within their rights to hold him back til next season.

 

[sonny10305]

Yeah Saucy I think I predicted problems for Wheeler going to that climate in Vegas and although he has been pitching well in fact his advanced will show you that he’s dealing with that hitter friendly environment out there. I just hope it does not impact how soon he is promoted to the bigs. What we have seen however is he has walked too many batters and has work yet to do on his control which was the biggest concern for him early on and prolly his biggest obstacle. Still I don’t want for him to develop bad habits in a ballpark the likes of which he will not see in the majors. Get him outta there before it screws with him not just physically but mentally as well. Let him develop his skills where even thou he will face better hitters he will also have the advantage of having all the veterans and big-league coaches around him. Stop the BS about the arbitration and free agent clock issues bla bla bla, he needs to be promoted and get the Hell out of Vegas he needs to develop elsewhere.

As to Nieuwenhuis too soon to comment or worry about him he just got there and needs time to improve his game. He is on a mission and is committed to get it right this time.

I am beggin Justin Turner not to let anyone else do the pie in the face thing after what happened to Spin the other day. I did not appreciate the macho totally unnecessary force that Buck used it damm near knocked Jordany over, I mean what the Hell was that. Had that been me I can tell you that after the game I would have dealt with that jackass. JT has promised to take back the pie throwing; actually Buck beat Justin to the kitchen the other day which is how that happened.

I was not surprised not to see Jordany Valdespin not in the lineup the day after he hit that grand slam. When Spin played every day for a while there were times when he had major lapses in focus I noticed how he reacted badly to a lot of different situations he just is not ready for that everyday role… not yet, plus those late day at bats off the bench are gold for us and for him . When I first saw him in Brooklyn I went out of my way to avoid him did not like that kid at all I thought he was a total jerk. But now the last week or so I have noticed how he has improved and matured, lately he seems much more calm and cool now and if you ask any of the players they will tell you how he thrives on being in a spot like the one the other day, just walk up to the plate and get er done. With his great speed he will in time be a great leadoff man and if we can figure out where; a productive outfielder as well. I like the way he is learning from his mistakes both on the field and in the clubhouse as well, for sure there has been a change for Jordany of late and it is for the better to be sure, and that is something I have been waiting and watching for ever since I first saw him in Brooklyn with the Cyclones. Like I said did not like him he was an absolute mess but a mess that you could see clearly had talent he just need to grow up and over the last few weeks I am beginning to see encouraging signs of that.

Jordany will be in the lineup tonight batting 8th rest of the lineup Baxter, Tejada, Murphy, Wright
Duda, Buck, Davis, Valdespin and Gee on the mound.
Interesting change with Murph batting 3rd moving Wright to cleanup. I like that!

There will be roster move after tomorrow’s game for Marcum activation. Who do you wanna see go? Stay tuned.

 

[Sausy]

Always good stuff, sonny. Didn't see the Buck attempt the cream pie but no one does it like Justin, and no one really should do it but Justin. Great stuff about Jordany Valdespin, at least he's not Millings Lastedge, who had the talent too but was nothing but arttitude and stylin' and see where that's left his baseball career...down the toilet! Hopefully he continues to mature and develop as a player and a person, and also importantly, ALWAYS wears a cup!

I like the new batting order and would like it to be given a few days at least to be tried out. Dillon Gee pitched fairly well yesterday allowing four runs in six innings but just got no offensive support, however as Mets lost to the Phillies 4-0.


Don't know what the answer is with Zach Wheeler but like you said the key is he must improve his control and command... it might be better for him to skip Las Vegas and just get called up here but I don't think the Mets are going to do it right now. I do hope the Mets get out of that Las Vegas affiliation after the provisional two year agreement expires after next season.... Las Vegas is an awful fit for a Eastern, pitching oriented team and just sucks that Buffalo didn't work out with the Mets. Hopefully when you make your visits there in support of the guys you can bring back when you post a lot of interesting perspectives into the mindset of the guys, the coaches,etc. about how they perceive Las Vegas.

 

[Sausy]

Shaun Marcum's first regular season effort for the Mets was fairly mediocre, getting back in playing shape only managed to go four innings allowing three runs on five hits. Robert Carson was horrible allowing five runs and effectively placing the game out of reach for the Mets, losing 9-4 to the Phillies...doubles each by Jordany Valdespin and David Wright , John Buck's 8th homer and Ike Davis' sacrifice fly were responsible for the Mets scoring. Not a great feeling losing two of three to the Dodgers and facing a Philly sweep of the Amazin's at home.. we gotta wake up, boys. Let's go, Mets!

 

[syam24]

Well, I guess I was fortunate enuff not to have seen any of this weekend's debacle at the hands of the Phillies. Seems like a team batting slump added to shakey pitching led up to this disaster. Let's hope a trip to sunny FLA will snap the boys back into a hitting/pitching formula that adds up to some victories! Let's go Mets!!!

 

[Sausy]

Yeesh... Jonathan Niese deserved MUCH better. Can't take too many more of the poor ass middle relief that fails to stem the bleeding, indeed makes things worse. The Mets have got to do a better job at developing natural hitters who don't get into long bouts of trying to pull everything or get long swings, or have little plate discipline. We had Cole Hamels off his game yet he still was able to out think and outwork our hitters... not that it should be surprising because Hamels is a very good pitcher, but the fact Mets batters often let far less skilled pitchers dominate them is very depressing. And our relief staff has to step in and stop any runs by the offense, because our hitters aren't very selective and if we get into some trouble, good luck coming back even with that great Jordany Valdespin grand slam game winner a few days back. I am tired of predictable offense and lousy relief. Also, they sent Josh Edgin to Binghamton rather than Las Vegas to work out his kinks... get Zach Wheeler the hell out of Las Vegas and put him back at Binghamton as well. Sandy Aderson mentioned Las Vegas was the last place you want to send a pitcher who needs confidence boosting...well fuck if you're going to send at best a potential eighth inning set up man like Edgin to Binghamton for that reason, send your god damned future ace Wheeler there too!!! Damn Las Vegas was such a bad choice for this organization as an affiliate, ESPECIALLY an AAA one.

Like syam says hopefully this trip down to Miami can get the boys going, though with our luck it will just provide the spark that wakes up the Marlins! Sorry to be this cynical this early, but I'd love to see more signs at least some players are going to get going on a consistent basis.... and at least some will pick up the slack until others get started.

 

[Scrub]

Well, well, well

Can you believe those PHILLIES?

Who would have thought they would sweep the Mets.

for Sonny and Sausy

 

[Sausy]

Thanks, Scrub.... great to see you hear even though you love your Phillies
Our Mets have been pretty crappy lately

Last night was beyond depressing going against the Marlins.... 1-18 with runners in scoring position, and the 1 hit was an infield hit by Ruben Tejada. Daniel Murphy got out of his slump a bit but of course the only scoring we got was coutesey of a two run moon shot by John Buck....ninth homer this month and other than David Wright the only hitter doing any kind of damage on the Mets, and he was so awful last year the Marlins traded him back to the Blue Jays in that Johnson-Reyes- Buerle trade. We need Ike Davis to wake up,I was reading a Mets fan blog I often look at" Hot Foot" and one reporter on the Mets beat sees that Ike has fallen back inmto the really bad habit from his atrocious first two months last year of having way too long a swing, and of course despite some walks he does swing at the worst pitches at times....you can almost predict when he's striking out. Duda hasn't done that much better and the lack of any real production from anyone other than Buck or DWright gives our starters almost no room for error and when our relief holds up someone makes a defensive lapse like Cowgill did last night and misplays an easily catchable ball at the worst time. Not defending Bobby Parnelll though who did blow the save for Matt Harvey last night...setting the stage for 15 innings of torture where the Mets scratch out a run finally in the 15th.... and Shawn Marcum just gives it away being the only pitcher available after the bullpen was used up for a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in a 5+ hour epic game of runners on base futility for the Mets. Seems this year the Mets are foregoing even their customary first half competitiveness( last couple of years by the All Star break, Mets had plus .500 records.... of course second half injuries and shitty play resulted in far less heartening second half failures). I read an article by Daily News reporter Matt Harper on phenom Zach Wheeler's disappointing start at Las Vegas and at least for Zach and LasVegas manager Wally Backman there isn't so much concern for his physical skills( still throwing 98 on the radar gun) but Zach's really tough adjustment to the dry desert climate, and inability to get comfortable with his grip causing far more control problems then Zach has ever experienced causing his ERA to be at a far from expected 5.79. Why keep him there, bring him to Binghamton like I mentioned previously....I feel the Mets have to drop Las Vegas as an affiliate as soon as their contract permits (think it's after next season) and get their future ace back on track ...he knows what he has to do to get his mojo back and is not complaining or panicking but the Mets need him to get back on track and get comfortable on the mound, and consciously or not Las Vegas has really given him fits with the dry air, and his feel for the ball.

Mets need some good news soon... someone on the current club to start helping out the offense or more consistency from our poison pen. Something, please

 

[sonny10305]

So here we are Mets fans we stared out the season fill of hope and promise a fresh look at a team that was going to bring us exciting hard tough baseball and even thou we never expected to go all the way at least we had the expectations of a fun and exciting year. So how’s that going for us

I dono Saucy what to tell you, after a promising start all of a sudden our bats have for the most part gone cold, AGAIN! Our bull pen has started leaking AGAIN! With the league-worst Left on Base Percentage for the last couple of years and has been painfully bad at stranding runners which of course also kills pitchers ERA.

We have players who have trouble doing basic fundamentals like catching balls AGAIN! Yes I mean you Cowgill and you Buck. But still we watch every day for that bounce back, our guys putting bat on ball and driving in runs our starters going deep into games and maybe even a bull pen who can hold onto leads. The New York Mets were three outs away last night from putting a stop to their four-game losing streak, but a blown save by Bobby Parnell helped extend the game to 15 innings, and then we lost TO THE FREACKIN MARLINS!!!!

Monday night’s game or was it Tuesday morning was another example of the lack of ability to put it all together. I loved KBs reaction as the night grew longer when he said off air “I could use a huge bag of peanut M&Ms right now. I stopped keeping score after the 9th. Oh wait…so did the Mets

What we also, learned that Matt Harvey is human after all he is capable of having less than perfect outings which may have humbled him a bit, and as my boy Murphy has said many times humility is a good thing. Harvey struggled with command of his fastball it was either right down the middle or he couldn’t get it over at all and wasn't able to locate everything as well as needed, he also had an usually high pitch count it just seemed unusual to see Matt battle right from the beginning, The fish had some very good swings against him and were able to get on-base against him. All that lead to that very high pitch count I mentioned which was right from the start. But it wasn’t all bad, not at all, he did have good control of his breaking pitches and had some nasty movement on his slider to get outs, trouble is it’s hard to get ahead of hitters using those pitches as his primary pitches.

So here we are we wait we hope we pray cause you see as Mets fans that is what we do it’s what we are accustomed to doing and so once again we hope that maybe this year will be different and his year we won’t be ashamed to answer that question “So who’s your baseball team? and quietly sheepishly almost embarrassing ay “mets” and wait for the laugh or the “OH….I’m sorry”

It’s not that the guys don’t work hard or care cause OMG do they ever, it’s not cause they don’t have a hard working manager or staff cause they do, so what is the problem? Hey, it beats the fuck outta me but they will find their way out of this most of them know where the problems are at the plate I know for an absolute fact that Ike Davis and Lucas Duda have yet to find the right formula but continue to work at finding it. Problem for Ike is he tries too many things, it just seems that every at bat is different the way he holds the bat his swing take back positioning all changes constantly with way too much tinkering and yes kiddies he is aware of that. In yesterday s game Keith Hernandez took the time to talk about what he sees wrong with Ike at the plate it made a whole lot of sense and yes, Ike saw that later and hopefully learned from it. Last year Keith did a similar thing one on one with Ike in a conversation that began on the plane and continued for several days after and Ike bounced back and had a great second half so we are hoping for repeat of that this year.

Good seeing Scrubs in here again gloating about her Phillies. Word of advice hun, it’s very early in the season for you to get too excited about that team, not this year sweetie

Not sure about these pics from den Decker’s phone taken just before he was to have had the cast removed from his hand yesterday still waiting to hear how it all went, more tomorrow. I know he’s pretty excited about getting back to baseball, see ya in Vegas kid

 

[syam24]

Well, Sausy and Sonny, your comments from Monday's game will fit well with the results from Tuesday's game. A lack of timely hitting, a blown ninth inning save opportunity, a couple of fielding miscues, and voila! another Mets defeat. Jeremy Hefner pitched a wonderful game only to have it come undone in the ninth. Recker with a passed ball certainly mucked things up, and it just imploded when his attempt at getting the guy at third on a sac bunt failed (even though he should have been called out when he overslid the bag). THis is a disappointing way to start a road trip.....Let's go Mets!!

 

[Sausy]

Yep syam, I was as pissed as Terry Collins was after last night's debacle.. was going to post but just so frustrated. Jeremy Hefner pitched a great game and just ran out of gas in the ninth a little.... but the Mets offensive offense gives so little room for error mistakes and bad calls like that just kill us... we can't seem to put teams away and a club that's so troubled as the Marlins shouldn't be looking at sweeping us even on their own home field. The guys aren't dogging it, it's not they don't care or aren't trying but we need something from these guys in putting things together because they just aren't taking advantage of the weak teams, and losing three straight series at home as the Mets did last home stand and looking at a second straight three game sweep.... it's unacceptable, plain and simple.

Good news from Las Vegas though as Zach Wheeler pitches great.... six and two thirds innings, five hits, one run allowed, eight strikeouts and most importantly for him only walked one. Three or four quality starts like that we should get his ass right up to the Mets... the future is now and though we may not contend this year the Mets owe it to their fans to start showing there is something really worth rooting for here. Let's go, Mets!

 

[sonny10305]

There are no words for yesterday’s loss

Anthony Recker is very down after that game he feels that he gets so little playing time and then to get in a game and mess it up. Poor kid really needs a hug today. I am not blaming Tony for last night’s loss I am blaming the offense that continues to be lost at the plate

Oh well, today we try and avoid the sweep, line up Tejada , Murphy , Wright, Buck , Duda, Byrd , Davis , Lagares ,and Gee on the mound. Murph returns to the 2 spot

You may have read that Turner would replace Ike today at first but not as of now cause Collins likes that Ike has been hitting lefties oddly enough better than righties and we have a lefty on the mound for the Marlins today. Collins also wants to give Turner a shot in the outfield which is something he has been saying since spring training, but he won’t do it in a space as big as the Marlins park but expect JT to show us what he can do out there very soon, which by the way he is anxious to “give it all he can”

I turn to my boys in the minors for comfort with Wheeler figuring it out and then yesterday Danny Muno who went 3-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases in a win for the Binghamton Mets. Atta boy!

 

[syam24]

Was happy to see Zach Wheeler pitch effectively. I was not really concerned about him, but glad to see him throw a good game. He'll be in Queens in no time, especially with the way things are going. I think if he strings another 3 good outings together, he'll be brought up. Let's see if we can score a few runs today!!!! Let's go Mets!

 

[Sausy]

Such a great win yesterday! Jordanny Valdespin strikes again!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mets got off to a slow start as Dillon Gee gave up three runs early but he held firm and got the win giving up only one more run in five innings, allowing nine hits but showing great determination not to let the game get away from the Mets. David Wright started off with a solo home run bomb and had three hits and was instrumental in several key offense plays and a crucial defensive play late doing his trademark barehand runner coming in at third and delivering it perfectly for Ike Davis to scoop up easily at first.He also scored on a Marlon Byrd single and on a screaming line drive pinch hit three run homer by Jordanny Valdespin that made a 4-2 Miami lead 5-4. John Buck added a clutch double scoring two runs for a 7-4 lead. Lucas Duda misplayed a single with runners on first and second when it hit something or just took a really weird hop but was unable to keep it in front of him and skidded by him and two runs scored making things perilously close at 7-6. Bobby Parnell came in with a bit of a chip on his shoulder for not being called on to pitch the ninth inning on Tuesday's terrible meltdown and closed em down easy for the Mets avoiding a sweep in Miami and giving them a satisfying, emotional victory.

 

[syam24]

After a much needed win on Wednesday in FLA, let's hope the boys are ready for their trip into the "house of horrors" that Turner Field has been. Hopefully a day of rest has give the bullpen some time to lick their wounds and be ready to support our starters with some genuine relief. The bats seemed to awaken a bit on Wed, with DWright and John Buck continuing their assault on opposing pitchers. We need some help from Ike, Murph, and any of the outfielders...HELLO, are you out there??? Duda has been the best of the lot, but even he has been very sporadic. Valdespin's pinch hit 3 run homer was timely, indeed, let's hope he can get on a roll with some of the others. Nice to see Matt Harvey get National League Pitcher of the Month for April. CONGRATS!! Let's go Mets!!

 

[Sausy]

Really big win in Atlanta tonight as our boys beat the Braves in 10 innings, 7-5... big offensive heroes tonight were John Buck who hit his tenth home run of the year, Lucas Duda slamming his fifth... David Wright powering his fourth after the Mets were behind 5-4 in the ninth to tie it at 5 and send it to extra innings ... Daniel Murphy and Ruben Tejada coming up big in the 10th responsible for the winning runs. Shawn Marcum again was okay but didn't go deep into the game, out after five innings. Got home late from work trying to follow the score on my cellphone but no doubt ne of the most satisfying wins the Mets have had so far, especially doing it against their longtime nemesis, the Atlanta Braves.Nice to hear syam about giving the award of pitcher of the month for April to Matt Harvey..4-0 and shows so much of a modern day version of Met's icon Tom Seaver! Keep it going tomorrow...Let's go, Mets!

 

[syam24]

Exhilirating win by the Mets on Friday!! CLutch performances by several folks, not the least of which was DWright's game tying homer off of Kimbrell in the ninth. Great relief effort from Bobby Parnell, coming on with a runner at third and one out, and getting the Mets to the tenth inning, where Tejada and Murph supplied run scoring hits, and Familia closes out the Braves with a one, two, three relief effort. The Mets made the Braves bullpen, normally unshakable, look rather ordinary. Lets hope for more heroics over the weekend. I read where Cowgill was sent out to Vegas with Andrew Brown being brought up to the Mets. Any offense from Brown will be welcome. LEt's go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

Love reading those posts from Saucy and Syam so full of joy for a change feeling good over last nights win, well said guys!

Well last night we finally had some game ending excitement with those last two innings giving us Mets fans some welcome crisp and very fun baseball. Ya see it doesn’t usually works out that way we Mets fans are accustomed to a whole different ending with the opposing team sending us to the showers with a loss. But last night we showed what used to be what we lovingly called “The Amazins”. And how about those relievers last night, nice seeing one of the worse bull pens in baseball showin what for to one of best pens. My my and chop chop the Mets pitchers out pitched the braves pitchers in fine style. The fun really began Jordany Valderspin and that steal and scoring from second, that kid is so much fun to watch he so often brings the spark and gets us going ya have to love that dude. And like I said the other day that role of the bench is where he needs to be and not play a position every day at least not until he stops acting erratic and out of focus as much as he does when he plays a position. I like that he is beginning to gain a lot more respect from the team and the fans he still insists on doing selfish things like not showing up early batting practice Friday, his explanation did not fare well when he said he felt he was not required to attend, above all that I guess. Seriously that shit has to stop.

Then of course there was Daniel Murphy bringing us the insurance run with his RBI. I guess the Atlanta relievers did not know he was a line drive hitter and thought they were so cleaver pitching him that breakin curve expecting him to be fooled by it, well, how did that work out for them Murph also treated us to one of his hop and throw plays, Just Murph murphing around out there

Parnell continued to show us he is the man for the save job and Jeurys Familia came on for an impressive 1-2-3 save, the first of his big league career. And yes kiddies that was the Mets responsible for that Rare blown save for Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel. Chop freakin chop

Great to see Justin Turner in the lineup at first base job last night over the struggling Ike Davis, Justin is such a great asset to the team, he not only can play all four infield positions well but he is a clutch RBI machine when we need it. He is a great kid in the clubhouse as well keeping it loose and fun there and getting the job done on the field. JT has been working in the outfield the last week or so with the intent of showing us what he can do out there as well. Justin in fact thinks he is ready to play it will be up to Collins to green light him for an outfield spot which will hopefully be soon. The outfield is a crowded place right now with so many payers workin out there so why not one more. I really want to see JT out there; imagine his worth to us if he can handle all four infield positions and play the outfield as well add to that his hitting and he is the whole package for us.

Speaking of the outfield; as you know Collin Cowgill was sent to AAA the other day he just could not seem to get it done for us after starting off really well; but it’s ok he will join Nieuwenhuis and the boys fine tuning things and hopefully we will see him back soon he is good hands out there with Backman and I think it is just what he needs right now. Andres Brown did not impress us much as Cowgill’s replacement going 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first game but let’s give him a chance. Meantime Kirk Nieuwenhuis has already made improvement in his game he has raised his batting average to .184 with one homer, four RBIs and six walks in nine games, Strike outs still a work in progress striking out 12 times in 38 at-bats which is an improvement for Kirk and something he is working on. He also continues to make awesome catches in the outfield, check this one out from the other day

I also want to mention that if you pay attention to these kind of things as I do I had to have noticed what an outstanding job Buck did calling last night’s game on target all the way and of course you would have to say acknowledge Collins for the way he managed the game as well, those things cannot be overlooked and attention must be paid.

A lot of contributions to last night’s game Wright of course coming in and doin what he does and The Dude and Buck making it look so easy.

Fun game and of course anytime we beat those Braves and their annoying chop chop fans is something special.

 

[sonny10305]

I was not sure when I wrote my above post but now it is official tonights game has been rained out it has been raining since around midnight last night and is not expected to stop till around the same time tonight. No word yet on a makeup date.
Jonathon Niese, was to pitch today but will pitch Sunday opposite Tim Hudson.
Matt Harvey moves to Tuesday against the White Sox.
Not looking good for a double header Sunday cause the Braves are leaving leave town early Sunday night for a 10-game trip that starts Monday at Cincinnati and we wouldn't want to tucker the little dears out