213 Miles From Shea

First off, this article may become a gigantic mute point with the weather in Colorado this week if any of the four games are postponed due to snow.

Here was the original rotation this week:

Sunday: Gee
Monday: Hefner
Tuesday: Laffey
Wednesday: Niese
Thursday: Harvey
Friday: Gee

But now the Mets have a choice with the upcoming series with the Rockies and Nationals:

Monday: Gee / Gee
Tuesday: Hefner / Hefner
Wednesday: Laffey / Niese
Thursday: Niese / Harvey
Friday: Harvey / Gee

The Mets have an opportunity to skip Laffey in the rotation. The advantage of this is obvious, the Mets have one less start with Laffey before Marcum rejoins the rotation.

However, there is an advantage of keeping Laffey against the Rockies. Laffey in the rotation this week will push Harvey against the Nationals, which allows a stronger rotation against a stronger team.

Honestly I’m torn. I’m leaning towards skipping Laffey to get more guaranteed wins. I also have tickets to Friday Night’s game and would love to see Harvey pitching live.

But, like I said before, depending on what happens this week the Mets might end up skipping Laffey in the rotation and still have Niese pitching on Thursday.

UPDATE: GAME POSTPONED
GAME TO BE PLAYED AUGUST 19TH, 1:10

The Mets will attempt to finish their series with the Twins this afternoon before going off to Denver. The weather today is supposed to be pretty poor so I’m not sure what will happen in terms of getting this game finished/started. Anyway, the Mets were the benefactors of another amazing Matt Harvey start and won their third series of the year. If the game happens today, Dillon Gee will get his third start of the year against Kevin Correia.

Dillon Gee had two very different starts so far this year. In his first start against the Padres, he picked up the loss even though he allowed only 1 ER over 6.1 innings of work. In his second start he allowed 7 ER and 10 hits in 3.0 innings vs the Phillies. Dillon Gee has never faced the Twins and the only batter who has faced him is Jamey Carroll who is 3-6 with a double.

The Mets batters look to build off of the 20 runs they have scored this series off of Kevin Correia. Kevin is 0-1 over two starts and 14.1 innings while allowing 5 ER (3.14 ERA) and 15 hits with 2 walks while striking out 3. Last season Correia went 12-11 with Pittsburgh posting a 4.21 ERA over 32 games and 28 starts. In one start against the Mets last year he took the loss after 4.1 innings allowing 7 hits and 6 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Kevin:

Byrd 3-17
Wright 13-17, 3 2B, 3 HR (SERIOUSLY!)
Murphy 6-15
Buck 4-9, 2B, HR
Tejada 2-8
Turner 1-7, 2B
Davis 1-5, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Twins play the second game of their series this afternoon as the Mets look to win their third series of the year. Last night the Mets stormed into the Twin Cities by putting up a 16 spot on the scoreboard with a grand slam by John Buck. Yep, that is the forth game in a row where John Buck has hit a homer, putting up 19 RBI’s in his first 10 games as a Met. Anyway the Harvey show goes on the road today as he faces Scott Diamond in his 2013 debut.

Matt Harvey has been tremendous this season with a 2-0 record over 14 innings allowing only 1 ER and 19 strikeouts. One of the moments from his last start that really sticks out in my mind occurred after Harvey walked the first batter. He responded by striking out the side! As you probably can imagine, Harvey has never faced the Twins, nor has faced any batters in the Twins organization, so there are no statistics to report here.

Scott Diamond is making his first start of the season today. Last year he went 12-9 over 27 games he pitched 173.0 innings while posting a 3.54 ERA. In that stretch he walked 31 batters and struck out 91 while boasting a WHIP of 1.243. In 2011 he went 1-5 over 7 games while pitching 39.0 innings with a 5.08 ERA. Diamond has never faced the Mets but he has faced Colin Cowgill who is 3-3, all singles against Scott.

Let’s Go Mets!

From time to time this season, let’s check in on some former Mets and see how they are doing with their new clubs:

Josh Thole (AAA Buffalo): 5-13 (.385 BA), 2 R, 2B
Mike Nickeas (AAA Buffalo): 1-7
Fernando Martinez (Houston): 15 Day DL
Mike Pelfrey (Twins): 1-1, 2 G, 7.1 IP, 8 R, 6 ER, 7.36 ERA, 2 BB, 2 K
Jeff Francoer (Royals): 10-40 (.250 BA), 5 R, 3 2B, HR
RA Dickey (Blue Jays): 0-2, 2 G, 10.2 IP, 12 R, 10 ER, 8.44 ERA, 6 BB, 9K
Jason Bay (Mariners): 3-17 (.176 BA), 5 R, 2B, HR
John Maine (Marlins): 0-0, 2 G, 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 4.50 ERA, 0 BB, 2 K

Anybody else you wan to see on this list? Let me know!

(Note: this game preview was written Thursday Night at 9:00, there is a possibility this game may be snowed out)

The Mets travel to Minnesota tonight to start their first interleague game of the season. Some of you may be asking yourself, “Hey, why are we playing an interleague game so early”. To those of you, “HAVEN’T YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION! GEEZ.” The Astros joined the American League this year making each league have 15 teams thus making the wild card system for fair in terms of chance of getting one. Having 15 in each league forces two teams to always be locked in an interleague series. Anyway, the Mets might be playing in the American League tonight but will see an old foe as they take on Vance Worley behind Jonathan Niese.

Niese is off to a good start this year going 1-0 in his first two games pitching a total of 12.2 innings allowing 3 earned runs, 4 total. In that stretch he has 12 hits and 4 walks while striking out 9 batters. He has faced the Twins once where he picked up the win throwing 6 shutout innings of baseball allowing 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. The Twins have the following numbers against Niese:

Carroll 3-5
Willingham 2-5, HR
Worley 1-6
Mauer 0-2

The Mets batters going from facing the Phillies to an ex-Philly in Vance Worley who is 0-1 this season over two starts. During that time has pitched 11.0 innings allowing a league leading 18 hits, 8 runs (7 earned), and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. Last season he was 6-9 over 23 starts and 133.0 innings with a 4.20 ERA. He was 0-2 against the Mets last season over 3 games where he allowed 14 ER over 14.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Vance:

Murphy 10-15, 2B, 3B (Seriously, that’s 2 hits per 3 AB’s)
Tejada 7-17, 2B
Wright 4-15, HR
Duda 5-10, 2B, HR
Davis 1-9
Turner 4-10, 2 2B
Baxter 1-3, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets find themselves in their second rubber game of the season tonight as the Mets take on the Phillies. The Mets crushed Halladay in the series opener and the Phillies returned the favor against Dillon Gee. The good news from last night’s game was the bullpen was able to hold down the fort after Gee’s exist and the Mets still showed power. Anyway, the Mets look too make it three straight series victories behind Jeremy Hefner as he takes on Kyle Kendrick.

Hefner was the hard luck loser in his first start of the season where he allowed 1 ER in 6.0 innings of work allowing a total of 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 batters. Last year he pitched 93.2 innings with a 5.09 ERA. The Phillies were not good to him last year as he made three pitching appearances against them where he allowed 13 ER over 7.1 innings. The Phillies have put up the following statistics on Hefner:

Rollins 2-5, 2B
Mayberry 1-2, 2B
Utley 1-2
Brown 1-1
Howard 1-1

Kyle Kendrick will be looking to rebound from his firsts tart of the season where he allowed 5 ER and 8 hits in 5.2 innings of work. Last year Kyle was 11-12 over 159.1 innings posting a 3.90 ERA. He was in 3 games against the Mets last year where he had a 1-1 record over 10 innings allowing 7 earned runs, 8 overall. The Mets have the following numbers against Kendrick:

Wright 11-31, 2 2B, 2 HR
Davis 4-16, 2 2B
Murphy 3-15, 2B
Duda 1-10, 2B
Tejada 2-12
Buck 0-7
Baxter 1-4, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

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!