213 Miles From Shea

Happy Harvey Day!

The Mets and Phillies play the rubber game this afternoon with the Mets looking to build off yesterday’s win. After dropping the first game of the series by 13-8, the Mets were able to squeak by with 5-4 victory. Today Matt Harvey gets the nod for the Amazin’s as he squares off against Cliff Lee.

Matt Harvey is 7-2 this season with a 2.35 ERA over 130.0 innings so far while striking out a league leading 147 batters. He has made two starts against the Phillies this year where he has pitched 13.0 innings allowing one earned run and striking out 15 batters. When you break down the starts, he allowed on run over 7 and in his last start he pitched 6 masterful innings that were interrupted by a rain delay. The Phillies have the following numbers against Harvey:

Rollins 3-11, 2 2B, HR
Utley 3-11, 2B
Brown 0-7
Nix 1-5, 2B
Young 0-6
Mayberry 0-5

Cliff Lee is 10-3 this season with a 2.86 ERA over 19 starts and 138.2 innings while striking out 125 batters. In his two starts before the All-Star Break he allowed 8 earned runs over 13.1 innings while striking out 10. In one start against the Mets this year he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 8.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Lee:

Buck 16-52, 3 2B, 4 HR
Byrd 8-25, 3 2B
Wright 6-25, 2B
Murphy 8-23, 4 2B
Davis 1-11
Brown 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

Happy Wheeler Day!

The Mets and Phillies play game two today, and for the Mets, they hope to move past the first three innings of yesterday’s game. The Mets started the game off trailing 11-0 but then ended up losing the game 13-8. They showed a lot of fight, they were just in too big of a hole to start. Zack Wheeler looks to prevent that today while the Mets offense looks to repeat against Cole Hamels.

Wheeler is 3-1 over 5 games this season pitching 28.0 innings with a 3.54 ERA. His last two starts have been on the better side of his short career allowing only one earned run over 5.0 innings and then 1 over 7.0 innings (probably the best start in his career stuff wise). This will be the first time he faces the Phillies in his career and anyone in the Phillies organization.

Cole Hamels is 4-11 this season pitching 20 games with a 4.05 ERA and 129.0 innings. In July he’s pitched 3 games totaling 23.0 innings with a 1.57 ERA, so as of late he’s becoming the Cole of old. He has made two starts against the Mets this season. Back in April he allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings of work and more recently in June he allowed 4 ER and 7 hits over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Wright 19-57, 3 2B, 3B, 4 HR
Buck 2-25, 2 HR
Murphy 7-26, 2B, HR
Davis 6-21, HR
Byrd 3-16
Young 5-11, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets return from being the center of the baseball universe today and welcome the Phillies to town as they kick off the second half. Before the half, the Mets were doing pretty good. Since the Eric Young Jr. acquisition the team has been playing with a different level of energy. This has translated into wins on the road, so here’s hoping the Mets can start turning that into wins at home as well. Jeremy Hefner gets the nod for the start tonight as he takes on Kyle Kendrick.

Hefner is 4-6 with a 3.33 ERA over 19 games and 108.0 innings of work this year. Since June 4th he has made 8 starts pitching 51.0 innings and an amazing 1.76 ERA. In my mind he has gone from a pitcher that I would turn off sometimes on TV into one that I’m happy to see come around the rotation. The last time he faced the Phillies, he was not the same Hefner, and it showed as this year he has pitched 9.0 innings against them allowing 8 runs, 7 earned. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

Rollins 5-11, 2 2B
Utley 2-8, HR
Brown 4-4, 2B, HR
Young 1-5, 2B
Mayberry 1-4

The Mets get another crack at Kyle Kendrick who is 8-6 with a 3.68 ERA over 19 starts and 124.2 innings this year. In his last 7 starts he has pitched 44.0 innings with a 4.70 ERA. He did well against the Mets the first time he played us this year allowing 2 ER over 6 IP and 8 hits but in his second starts he rolled through the Mets pitching a 3 hit complete game shut out walking only one batter. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Wright 12-38, 2 2B, 2 HR
Davis 4-21, 2 2B
Murphy 3-21, 2B
Buck 1-13, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets right now are on a bit of a hot streak. They’ve been playing the better part of a month well and have closed quite a bit of ground, at least in the rate they were losing it, to get to .500. A lot of that has come on the back of Marlon Byrd (after you factor out the rotation, which has been the real reason of success lately).

After two weeks of starting the season hot, the Mets offense cooled off considerably in Minnesota (also quite literally after that Minnesota series as well, it snowed). Outside of Captain America, Byrd has been one of the most consistent hitters on the offensive side of the bar clearly leading the way for best minor league signing of the year for the Mets and possibly in the league.

At the All-Star break, Byrd is batting .271 with .818 OPS and 15 homers. 32 of his 75 hits have been for extra bases.

This is the time to trade Byrd because his value isn’t going any higher.

Ultimately the Mets could keep him, and get a draft pick when he signs with another team (if he is considered that high). Or the Mets could keep him, but after the year he is having he could command a much larger deal, and I would rather risk a more hefty contract financially on a 37 year old Beltran than a 35 year old Byrd.

It is true that our weak area is the OF. Right now Eric Young is the bright spot and Duda could be one too if healthy. However, with the amount of OF’s on the market next year, it seems more wise to get a good or mid level prospect for Byrd and invest this off season in 1-2 other OF’s that would meet the Mets needs defensively, as a power hitter and possibly as lead off (if we decide to not stick with Young, by the way you heard Choo is a free agent this winter, right?)

Sandy hasn’t said much on this issue besides (paraphrase) “We’re not trading Byrd” which I really don’t know how to take if he is serious or driving up the market. This could also be more of my wishes interfering with my interpretation of reality.

Outside of dignity to be playing near .500 ball for the rest of the year, something I personally feel the Mets can do without Byrd, I just don’t see the point of carrying him till the end. Of course, with that being said, if we really won’t get anything in return for Byrd, then obviously we should keep him.

The Mets play their last game before the All-Star break today as they try to avoid the sweep in Pittsburgh. Last night the Mets got a nice spot start from Carlos Torres but the offense and bullpen could not keep up as the Mets ended up falling for the second straight game. Dillon Gee will be making the start for Amazin’s today as he faces off Gerrit Cole.

Dillon Gee is 6-7 over 18 games while pitching 103.2 innings with a 4.60 ERA. His last start against SF was his first poor one in a while where he allowed 5 ER over 6.2 innings in a game the Mets eventually won. He faced the Bucs earlier this season allowing 1 ER over 5.0 innings of work. The Pirates have the following numbers against Gee:

McCutchen 3-12
Jones 3-10, 2B
Tabata 4-10, 2B
Martin 0-7
Alvarez 1-4
Barmes 1-4

Cole is 4-2 over 6 starts this year pitching 36.2 innings with a 3.68 ERA. In the month of June he has pitched 12.1 innings allowing 5 ER. This is also Cole’s rookie season. In AAA this year he was 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA. Today will be his first time facing the Mets and anyone on the Mets roster in a major league game.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Bucs are back at it tonight for game two of the series. The Mets dropped the first game in extra innings last night after showing a lot of fight to tie the game and push it into extras. The Mets had some interesting bull pen decisions and ultimately left the game with a loss and a fully rested closer (I’m not doing so well at covering my feelings here). Anyway, Carlos Torres makes his debut as a starter today as the Mets skip Matt Harvey. Burnett starts for the Bucs.

Carlos Torres is 0-1 this season pitching in 10 games and finishing 2. During those 10 games he has pitched 17.2 innings, striking out 15 batters and posting a 0.51 ERA. Last year he pitched one inning against the Pirates allowing no hits and no runs, while walking one batter. The Pirates have the following numbers on Torres:

Inge 2-3, 2B, HR
Alvarez 0-1
McCutchen 0-1

The Mets draw Burnett who is 4-6 with a 3.05 ERA this year pitching 94.1 innings. His last start was his first in nearly a month and he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over 5 innings of work while walking 2 and striking out 3. The last time he faced the Mets was in 2011 where he allowed 3 ER over 6.1 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Buck 6-22, 2B, 3 HR
Wright 3-18, 2B
Byrd 2-15
Murphy 1-7

Lets Go Mets!

After a very successful trip to San Francisco (boasting a three game sweep) the Mets travel to Pittsburgh for their last series before a much needed All-Star break. The Mets have done well as of late but they are going to meet a Pittsburgh squad that has been doing well all season. One controversy between these two clubs became a mute point yesterday as Wright selected Alvarez to take over Carlos Gonzalez’s spot in the Home Run Derby. Tonight, Hefner gets the nod for the Mets as he squares up against Charlie Morton.

Hefner is 4-6 over 101.0 innings this season with a 3.39 ERA. He has pitched 44.0 innings in his last 7 starts while posting an amazing 1.64 ERA with 37 strikeouts while only walking 8. Last year he made a very good start against Pittsburgh shutting the Pirates out over 7.0 innings, striking out 7 batters while picking up the win. The Pirates have the following numbers against Hefner:

Alvarez 2-3
Jones 0-3
Marte 1-3
McCutchen 0-3
McKenry 0-3
Barmes 0-1

The Mets bats will deal with Charlie Morton tonight who is 1-2 over 5 starts this season while pitching 24.0 innings with a 3.38 ERA. Last season he picked up the L against the Mets as he allowed 3 ER over 7 innings and 8 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Morton:

Byrd 1-9
Murphy 2-10
Wright 1-7, 2B
Davis 2-5
Kirk 2-2

Lets Go Mets!

I live in Newark, NJ and frequent a Sports Authority on the edge of Nutley/Clifton because it is near a grocery store, Barnes and Noble and Target all within walking distance from each other.

With the exception of a bargain on a Santana Jersey I got last year (the afternoon before his no-hitter no less) I never get Mets stuff there because their merchandise is usually horrendously out of date (still at original retail price). In late June they finally stocked jerseys without the drop shadow (seriously) and the only players they carried are Wright and Davis.

While looking through the racks I came across this fashion jersey from Adidias:

Lots of notables: – Adidas theme on the front not just with the logo stamp but the three stripes in the center of the chest
– I’ve never seen the Circle Mets logo on the front of a uniform before (I have a jacket with it on the front that is patch size but that’s because I put it there)
– I’ve never seen the script “Mets” on the sleeve before. The Orioles have that/had that going on recently

The Mets conclude their three game series with the Giants this afternoon as they look for the sweep! In the first game of the series, the Orange and Blue went 16 innings deep to take the W. Last night, Byrd was not having any of that extra-inning shenanigans and busted out a grand slam. Today Zack Wheeler gets the nod as he goes up against Matt Cain.

Wheeler is coming off of a better start where he pitched 5.0 innings allowing 3 runs, only one earned over 7 hits while walking three and striking out 3. He is now 2-1 over 21.0 innings of work and 4 games with a 4.29 ERA walking 13 batters and striking out 16. This will be his first time facing the Giants and facing any on the Giants in a Major League game.

The Mets draw Matt Cain who has a 4.85 ERA on the season with a 5-5 record over 18 games and 111.1 innings. Cain was 1-2 in the month of June making 6 starts with a 3.10 ERA. His first start in July, his last start, was awful as he allowed 8 ER over 2.1 innings. Last year he faced the Mets once allowing 2 ER over 5 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Matt:

Wright 11-24, 6 2B
Young 2-14
Murphy 2-9, 2B
Buck 0-10
Byrd 0-8
Davis 1-4, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets continue their San Francisco series tonight as Dillon Gee takes on Barry Zito. (Note: Due to travel, I’m actually writing this article on Sunday morning, so if something crazy happens, and these pitchers aren’t pitching, my bad, think of this like the alternate universe game preview then).

Gee is 6-7 on the year over 17 games with a 4.47 ERA over 97.0 innings of work. He is 4-1 over his last seven games with a 2.47 ERA and that includes a start where he allowed 5 ER over 5 innings. In short, Dillon Gee has returned. Last year he did not have a good day against the Giants allowed 7 ER over 6.2 innings of work. The Giants have the following numbers against him:

Pence 1-12
Blanco 2-4, 2B
Sanchez 1-3, HR
Sandoval 2-3, HR
Crawford 1-3

The Mets bats will get a crack at Barry Zito who is 4-6 with a 4.44 ERA this season over 17 starts. He has pitched 32.2 innings in his last 6 starts while posting a 5.51 ERA and 23 strikeouts. Last year in two starts against the Mets he allowed 9 ER over 9.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Zito:

Young 7-27, 3 2B
Wright 5-17, 2B
Byrd 2-8, HR
Davis 0-6
Murphy 1-5

Lets Go Mets!