213 Miles From Shea

The Mets beat the Phillies last night and look to repeat the results tonight. Yesterday Matt Harvey had another excellent start racking up 9 strikeouts while dominating the Phillies line up. On the other side, the Mets batters were able to rough up Halladay and get to the Phillies bullpen to pour 7 runs on the scoreboard. Dillon Gee looks to follow up Matt Harvey’s performance tonight as the Mets bats try to encore against Cliff Lee.

Dillon Gee was the hard luck loser in his last start as he allowed only one run in 6.1 innings of work while allowing only 3 ER, walking 3 and then striking out 4 batters. It was Dillon’s first start after being sidelined for half the year last year, where he went 6-7 over 17 games and 109.2 innings while posting a 4.10 ERA. Last season he allowed 6 ER over 12.1 innings against the Phillies, where the Phillies had 16 hits, only 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. The Phillies have the following numbers against Gee:

Mayberry 2-9, HR
Rollins 6-9
Utley 2-8, 2B
Howard 2-7, 2 HR
Young 2-3, HR

The Mets batters get their first 2013 crack against Cliff Lee who picked up the win in his first start of the season, shutting out the Braves over 8 innings, allowing only 2 hits and striking 8 batters out. Last season he was 6-9 over 211 innings where he posted an ERA of 3.16 (so in other words, don’t let the record foul you). He faced the Mets a lot last year totaling 5 starts and 35.0 innings where he posted an ERA of 3.09, a 2-1 record, 31 hits, 5 walks and 39 strikeouts. The Mets have the following numbers against Cliff:

Buck 14-48, 3 2B, 3 HR
Byrd 7-21, 3 2B
Wright 6-21, 2B
Murphy 6-19, 3 2B
Duda 5-16, 2B, HR
Tejada 6-13, 2 2B
Turner 0-10

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets start their first road series of the year in Philadelphia tonight. The Mets are fresh off of winning their first two series of year for the first time since 2006 and their first walk off win of the year. Aaron Laffey allowed a lot of hits in the first 4.1 innings and somehow only 3 earned runs. The bullpen took over after that and didn’t allow a single run and the Mets were able to stage a rally in the ninth inning. The Phillies have gotten off to a rocky start dropping their first two series of year with a 2-4 record. Tonight Matt Harvey looks to repeat his first performance as he goes up against Roy Halladay.

Matt Harvey picked up the win in his first start not allowing any runs in 7.0 innings while striking out 10 batters and only walking 2. Last season he was 3-5 over 10 starts and 59.1 innings. Last season he faced the Phillies twice, picking up a win in 13.1 innings of work allowing only 3 earned runs while walking 5 batters and striking out 13. The Phillies have the following numbers against Harvey:

Howard 0-5
Rollins 2-5, 2B, HR
Utley 1-5
Mayberry 0-5
Nix 1-3, 2B
Brown 0-2

The Mets batters look to do battle with Roy Halladay tonight who could be in a rough spot. He struggled early on Spring Training and it looks like some of his pitches have become flat. That struggle (11 ER in 16.1 innings at Spring Training) continued into the season as Roy allowed 5 ER over 3.1 innings against the Braves. He only pitched against the Mets once last year allowing 2 ER over 7 innings, and he normally does well against the Mets who have the following numbers against Halladay:

Wright 4-24, 2B, 3B
Buck 4-22
Davis 5-22, 2B
Byrd 5-16, 2 2B, 3B
Duda 0-9
Murphy 2-9
Tejada 0-8

Let’s Go Mets!

Everybody and their mother has a different opinion of what makes a winning baseball team a club that actually wins. Since I exist, I have my own list of things winning baseball teams.

The vast majority of this list falls under the category of “DUH” but I’d like to share it anyway:

1. Win 1 Run Games
2. Good Starting Pitching
3. Good Bullpen Pitching
4. Timely Hitting
5. Beat the Teams you are supposed to beat
6. Win as many series as possible

The first game the Mets lost was by 1 run, but then today they won by a run.

The Mets have received good starting pitching in all of their games so far this year but the bullpen had some rough spots. Except for today though. The Mets bullpen was put in a tough spot today but they kept the game in check and gave the Mets a chance to win.

Speaking about winning, the games the Mets have won, their hitting was timely, when they lost, their hitting fell apart.

But really, the most important items on that above list is win as many series as possible and beat the teams you are supposed to beat. Teams that win, win their series (well, obviously) but they also win the games they are supposed to, which takes pressure off other games. The Padres and Marlins are both supposed to be bad, therefore the Mets must win those games.

And they did!

And I’m excited!

The Mets find themselves in a rubber game situation today as they bounced back from a two game slide yesterday. In their last game, the Mets and Marlins traded runs until it was a 3-3 game. After that, the Mets scored 4 unanswered run, 3 in a rally. The difference for the Mets in yesterday’s game was timely hitting and being aggressive on the base paths. Twice in one inning, a Mets runner stole second, forced a bad throw/reception and was able to move ahead to third base. Both of those runners would score. Today at Citi-Field, Aaron Laffey will be making his Mets debut as he faces Jose Fernandez in his baseball debut.

Aaron Laffey was with the Blue Jays last year where he had a 4.56 ERA over 20 games, 16 starts and 100.2 innings. In that stretch he walked 37 batters and struck out 48. For the Mets in Spring Training, he allowed 12 runs over 4 games. This is his first time in his career being on a National League team, thus it is also his first time facing the Marlins. The has faced a few batters on the Marlins roster:

Kotchman 9-12, 4 2B
Polanco 4-12, 2B
Olivo 2-10, 2B
Pierre 0-5

The Mets will be facing one of the prized prospects in the Marlins organization, Jose Fernandez. Baseball America ranks him as the #5 prospect in baseball and MLB.com ranks him as #7 (between d’Arnaud and Wheeler). Most people, basically everyone, expected to see Fernandez in the major leagues some time next year, maybe at the end of this year. However, the Marlins are going to do what the Marlins do and promoted the 20 year old phenom to the majors without reaching AA. Over 25 starts last year between low A and high A (or A and A Advanced, whatever it’s called now), Fernandez was 14-1 with a 1.75 ERA over 133.0 innings. In that time, he walked only 35 batters and struck out 155. He only pitched 2 innings in official spring training games this spring, allowing 1 hit, no runs and striking out 2. Today will be an interesting day.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets dropped their second game in a row last night as the Marlins beat the Mets by the score of 7-5. In the first two games of the season, the Mets had excellent starting pitching and timely hitting. In the second two games of the season, the Mets still had excellent starting pitching, but the hitting fell apart. Earlier on yesterday’s game the Mets had a ton of chances to score earlier in the game and couldn’t get it done. When the Mets started to score, the Mets bullpen simultaneously fell apart. This afternoon Jon Niese will be making his second start of the season as he goes up against Ricky Nolasco.

Jon Niese picked up a win in his first start of the season pitching 6.2 innings allowing 2 ER and 4 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. Terry attempted to pull Niese out of the game after 6, but Niese insisted to stay in the game. Last season Niese had a 13-9 record over 190.1 innings while posting a 3.40 ERA. Against the Marlins he totaled 25.1 innings over 4 starts with a 1-1 record allowing 9 ER, which would be a 3.20 ERA. The Marlins have the following numbers against Niese:

Polanco 11-32, 5 2B
Kearns 5-15, 2B
Stanton 3-12
Coghlan 2-10, 2B
Nolasco 0-4
Ruggiano 2-5
Brantly 0-3

Nolasco was the hard luck loser in his first start of the season against the Nationals. He allowed only 3 hits over 6 innings of work. Sadly for Ricky, two of those hits were solo homers to Bryce Harper. Last season Nolasco was 12-13 over 31 starts and 191.0 innings while posting a 4.48 ERA. He picked up one loss in three starts over 18.1 innings against the Marlins. Rickey allowed 9 earned runs and 19 hits during that stretch, which is a 4.34 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Nolasco:

Wright 25-63, 6 2B, 6 HR (.397 BA)
Murphy 8-25, 3 2B
Davis 3-20, 2 2B
Duda 2-14
Tejada 2-12, 3B
Kirk 3-5, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Marlins play their first game together at Citi Field tonight as Jeremy Hefner gets the start against Alex Sanabia. Yesterday the Mets dropped the final game of a three game set vs. the Padres by the score of 2-1. Dillon Gee gave the Mets their third straight game of excellent starting pitching but the bats just couldn’t do anything – except for Turner who surprisingly collected a bunch of hits and John Buck who smacked his second homer in as many days. The Marlins are coming off of a sweep by the Nationals. The Marlins managed to score 1 run over that three game stretch.

Hefner gets the nod for the Mets today. Last season he was 4-7 with a 5.09 ERA over 93.2 innings. On the positive side he walked only 18 batters during that stretch (and struck out 62). Last year he totaled 14.1 innings of work over 3 games and 2 starts against the Marlins where he allowed only 4 ER walking 4 batters and striking out 11. The Marlins have the following numbers against Hefner:

Stanton 1-7
Solano 2-5
Pierre 2-3
Polanco 2-4
Ruggiano 0-2
Dobbs 0-3

The Mets bats look to bounce back against Alex Sanabia tonight who is making his 2013 debut. Last season Sanabia did not pitch in the majors at all. In 2011, he had a limited stint with the Marlins pitching in 3 games, 2 starts totaling 11.0 innings allowing 4 ER. The year before he pitched in 15 games, 12 starts where he logged 72.1 innings with a 3.71 ERA. During Spring Training this year, he pitched 7.0 innings allowing 4 ER. He has pitched 13.1 innings against the Mets allowing 8 runs, 6 earned. The Mets have the following numbers against Alex:

Davis 2-6, 3B
Wright 2-6, 2B
Tejada 1-4
Byrd 0-3
Duda 0-1

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday Manny Ramirez hit a homer for his new team. The passion from the fans and announcers is something to be hold.

 You can see the USA Today’s article here, especially with their better look at the white uniform.

The Mets look to start 2013 the same way they started 2012 this afternoon at Citi Field as they go for the sweep! In both games this season, the Mets have experienced excellent starting pitching and good hitting. During the Opener, it was a controlled Jon Niese, 2 out RBI’s and a grand slam that drove the game. Yesterday, it was a dazzling performance by Harvey, pitching 7 innings and striking out 10 batters. He was backed by power bats with homers from Duda, Davis and Buck. The Mets look to continue this trend with Dillon Gee who faces Eric Stults.

Dillon Gee is making his first start since July of last year when he was sidelined with blood clot. At that point last year he was starting to get into a groove and left the season with a 6-7 record over 17 starts and 109.2 innings of work. During that stretch Gee had an ERA of 4.10 while walking only 29 batters and striking out 27. This past spring wasn’t the greatest for Gee as he allowed 15 ER over 23 innings of work.

Recently, another story about Gee from last year was brought to light by Kristine Ackert of the Daily News. While Dillon was battling his injury, his brother, Jared, was fighting leukemia. Please take a minute or two and read the article here.

Last year Gee made one of his better starts against the Padres. He allowed 1 ER over 7 innings of work while striking out 9 batters and walking only 3. The Padres have the following numbers against Gee:

Guzman 0-5
Maybin 1-5, 2B
Venable 1-5, 2B
Ransom 2-4, 2B, HR
Alonso 1-3
Cabrera 1-3

The Mets will get a shot at Eric Stults this afternoon. Stults was 8-3 last season over 20 games and 15 starts. During that time he pitched 99.0 innings with a nice 2.91 ERA walking 27 batters and striking out 55. He picked up a win against the Mets last year holding the Amazin’s to 4 hits and 1 run (unearned) over 5 innings of work, walking one and striking out two. The Mets have the following numbers against Stults:

Wright 3-6, 2B
Duda 1-2
Murphy 0-2
Turner 1-1, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to repeat their opener tonight as they take on the Padres for game two of the season. On Monday, the Mets continued their Opening Day success mashing the Padres by the score of 11-2 in a game that featured great pitching by Niese (and a great debut from Rice) and a lot of timely hitting up and down the lineup. The new guys contributed a lot with hits and RBI’s by Byrd and Buck, topped off with a grand slam by Colin Cowgill. Today Matt Harvey will make his season debut as he squares up against Clayton Richard.

Matt Harvey had a tremendous 2012 season going 3-5 over 10 starts while pitching 59.1 innings with a 2.73 ERA. Even more impressive, in that near 60 inning stretch, he walked only 26 batters while striking out 70. That’s a K/9 of 10.6! He made only a handful of negative starts last year, and one was against the Padres where he lasted 5 innings allowing 5 ER over 8 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5. The Padres have the following numbers against him:

Alonso 2-3, 2B, HR
Amarista 0-3
Cabrera 1-3
Quentin 1-3, 2B
Venable 1-3, 3B
Maybin 1-2, 2B

The Mets batters look to continue their hot start against Clayton Richard. Richard 14-14 over 33 starts and 218.2 innings last season with a 3.99 ERA. His ERA is surprisingly low when you factor in he led all pitchers in hits allowed (228) and homers (31) last year (but also pitched a ton of innings). He was 1-1 against the Mets last year as he totaled 13.0 innings over 2 games allowing 5 ER. The Mets posted the following numbers against Clayton:

Wright 3-12, 2B
Davis 1-9
Byrd 2-6
Tejada 2-6
Turner 2-4
Buck 1-3, 2B
Cowgill 1-3
Duda 0-3
Murphy 1-3, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

Opening Day is finally here!

Why write the Mets off yet for 2013 when they haven’t even played a game yet?

Anyway, the Mets open the season at Queens this afternoon with Jon Niese at the helm. Niese had a great season last year where he dropped his ERA to a career low thanks to a better pitch selection. He was 13-9 over 30 starts and 190.1 innings with a 3.40 ERA. He didn’t face the Padres at all in 2012 but in 2011 he was 0-2 in as many starts allowing 6 runs, 5 earned over 13.2 innings of work. The Padres have the following numbers against Niese:

Maybin 6-22, HR
Forsythe 2-7, 2B
Guzman 2-6
Darnell 0-4
Hundley 2-4, 3B
Headley 0-3

The Mets bats will get the season started against Edison Volquez. Volquez had a bounce back year in his first season with the Padres as he posted an 11-11 record and a 4.14 ERA over 32 starts, 182.2 innings. Last season the Mets got the best of Edison as he allowed 6 ER over 7.1 innings in two starts (both losses). The Mets have posted the following numbers against Volquez:

Wright 1-8, 3 BB
Byrd 3-9
Baxter 2-6, 2B, HR
Murphy 2-5
Turner 2-6, 2B
Tejada 0-4
Davis 1-4
Buck 0-2
Valdespin 1-2, 2B

Let’s Go Mets! Let’s start the season off Wright!