In what will be the first of many David Wright baseball cards:
The card is from an interesting Topps line called Co-Signers. The idea was that in every box fans would get a baseball card with two autographs on it. So the idea of “two’s” can be found all over the product, thus this two part card design. I was not a particular fan of this card design, and we’ll be seeing a few of these throughout the month.
Learn more about this series here.
(Written 7/15)
The Mets try to avoid a sweep and an 0-6 road trip this afternoon as they take on the Nationals for an early 12:35 game in Washington. Yesterday was the same story for the Amazin’s as they got a great start from Young, followed by one inning of bad relief from Batista, and then an offense that didn’t show up until late in the game. It is worth noting that Rauch had the only inning in relief so far in the DC series where the bullpen did not allow a run. Anyway the Mets look to Dickey to play stopper and help the Mets gather themselves as they take on Gio Gonzalez.
Dickey is 12-1 on the season with a 2.66 ERA over 18 starts and 125 innings of work. In three of his last four starts he has allowed 5 ER, so he is looking to get back on the correct path himself. In one start against Washington this season he pitched 7.1 innings of shutout ball allowing only 4 hits, 2 walks and striking out 8 batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against Dickey:
Ankiel 9-23, 3 2B, HR
Zimmerman 5-22
Desmond 3-19, 3B
Espinosa 0-13
LaRoche 2-11
Morse 5-18, 2B
The Mets will get a look at Gio Gonzalez today who is 12-4 on the season with a 2.93 ERA over 18 starts and 107. 2 innings of work. In his last 8 starts, he has been a different pitcher as he has posted an ERA of 4.11 over 46.0 innings (2.04 ERA over his first 10 starts). Since returning from the All-Star break he has pitched 12.0 innings with 3 ER. He has pitched one game against the Mets in his career where he allowed 1 earned run over 7 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
Torres 2-11
Bay 0-5
Duda 1-2
Hairston 1-3, 2B
Tejada 0-3
Turner 0-3
Let’s Go Mets!
The Mets look to pick up the pieces from last night and try again tonight in DC. For the first 7 innings of the game, the only part of the Mets that was effective was the starting pitching. Then, in the 9th, the Mets bats came alive and started to do their job. The weak point for the Mets (not surprisingly) was the bullpen which just did not work innings 8-10. Anyway today is a new day and the Mets look for Chris Young to lead them on the winning road against Jordan Zimmermann.
Chris Young is 2-3 on the season over 7 games and 40.0 innings of work with an ERA of 4.28. June was a very good month for Young, July has proved to be the opposite. He has totaled 10 innings and 8 ER over two starts in July, mainly due to his last outing where he allowed 5 ER over 3 innings. His first start of the year was against Washington where he allowed 2 ER, 3 total over 5 innings of work. The Nationals have the following numbers against Young:
LaRoche 3-25, 2B, HR
Zimmerman 4-14, 2B, HR
Ankiel 0-9
Espinosa 1-6
Morse 2-7, 2B
Desmond 0-5
Zimmermann 2-2, 2B
The Mets bats will get a crack at Jordan Zimmermann, who has developed into a real strength in the Washington rotation. Zimmermann is 6-6 over 18 starts and 116.1 innings with a 2.48 ERA. In July he has made three starts with a 2-0 record over 19.0 innings and a 0.95 ERA. In his one start against the Mets this year he allowed 2 ER over 5 hits in 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Jordan:
Wright 5-19, 2B, HR
Murphy 6-14, 2B, HR
Thole 4-11
Davis 3-8, 2B, HR
Bay 4-9
Valdespin 1-1, HR
Let’s Go Mets!
When I was in high school, Cliff Floyd was my favorite player, so I have small collection of Cliff Floyd Baseball Cards:
Upper Deck and Topps both (well I don’t about Upper Deck anymore) an early set of the yearly card sets in April. This was the Upper Deck version for 2006. I was a fan of this card design, especially the pennant in the corner.
Learn more about the series here.
(Article written 7/15)
I was at the game yesterday and before we start ripping apart the team, at least the team has fight. The offense was playing miserable the entire night, and after the Mets let up the first run in relief in 8th, the game, I’ll admit, felt out of reach.
Especially when you take the Nationals bullpen into consideration. They had just enough opportunity to feel demoralized. Their amazing closer, and I do mean amazing, blew a two run save, with a go ahead run. The bullpen then allowed in the ahead run again in the following inning. That only happens because this team has fight and was able to storm back into the game.
But it has to be rough to be in the Mets bullpen at this point. They are in a tailspin. Every inning of relief last night they failed. Flat out did not do their job. Bullpens don’t need to be perfect, but they can’t give up the lead, especially twice in one game. At some point, you have to consider if this is mental because everyone has started to underperform.
If you look at the Mets batting roster, the lineup has over achieved at points this season. Meaning, they have scored a lot more runs than their BA’s and sometimes skills suggest (due to players like Rottino getting key hits, or Turner coming through in big spots). The bullpen has underachieved. Are Beato, Parnell, Brydak, Edgin, Batista really that bad? Well maybe a few of them but there is more talent in that pen that is being shown.
Trading for a reliever may be a necessary step, however it might be time to try again to switch things up. Mejia has a 4.22 ERA in 32.0 innings and has control problems, but how strong of a case can we make that he isn’t better than someone else in the pen? Or bring back Hefner, who seems to have figured it out again in Buffalo.
Basically an additional problem the Mets are faced with right now is that talent wise in the bullpen the players are not living up to their talents, but the Mets don’t have the pieces to get the next level talent they would need in the bullpen. Is it really worth the risk blowing up the 2013-2016 seasons for a sort of shot at the postseason now when the Mets still have the potential to do it now without a trade? I don’t know. I think it’s a tougher call than a lot Mets fans will give the GM credit for.
Finally there is Bay and Valdespin. Bay had an underwhelming night at the plate. I know it is first game back but at some point the experiment will have to end. The Mets will be faced with another move soon when Baxter gets activated, and thinking ahead to next year, wouldn’t it be worth it to get Valdespin a shot every day in the OF? Kirk is struggling, Hairston struggles against righties and Duda may be hurt. But more importantly, letting Valdespin start is NOT throwing in the towel for this year, rather letting him start gives the Mets a kick of attitude and energy they need at this moment in time.
Things are not good in Mets land, but things are not on fire yet either. It’s way too early to jump off this team when they still have a shot of pulling this off internally keeping them competitive for 2013 and beyond.
The Mets look to get back on the Wright track (aha!) today as they take on the Nationals in DC. This past weekend was rather disappointing in Atlanta as the Mets got swept, Gee needs to be replaced, Duda got injured, and the bullpen being itself. However, as we all know, winning makes all of that go away, so let’s try winning! Tonight Jon Niese takes on Ross Detwiler.
Jon Niese is 7-4 over 17 starts with 103.2 innings of work and a 3.73 ERA so far this season. He is coming off one of his worst starts of the year, statistically speaking, as he allowed 7 ER in 7 innings of work. If you watched the game though, you will note that he had a rough first inning allowing 4 runs, then a solid 2-6 and then wheels came off again late in the game. Anyway, amazingly this will be Jon’s first start against the Nationals this season. Last year he pitched 2 games and allowed 2 ER over 12.1 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against Niese:
Desmond 2-11, 2 2B
LaRoche 3-9, 2 HR
Morse 3-9, 3 2B
Zimmerman 4-8, 2B
Espinosa 2-5, 2B
Ross Detwiler is 4-3 on the season over 18 games and 12 starts and 78.2 innings with a 3.43 ERA. This will be Detwiler’s first start since May 25th. As a starter Ross was 3-3 with a 3.88 ERA. On the season Ross has pitched 7.0 innings against the Mets and has allowed 4 hits and one earned run. The Mets have the following numbers against Detwiler:
Wright 4-9, 2 2B, HR
Duda 1-7
Turner 1-6
Nickeas 0-5
Murphy 0-4
Hairston 1-3, HR
Tejada 1-3, 2B
(Shameless plug. I’ll be at the game tonight. Get at me on twitter if you want to introduce yourself @213mfs. I’m wearing a Richard Hidalgo Mets T-Shirt, so you’ll be able to spot me easy)
Let’s Go Mets!
Hey! Hey! Remember this guy?
When I’m really frustrated about the current Mets bullpen, I think back to when this guy was actually our closer/set up man. Card is from a basic Topps series (2006).
Learn more about this series here.
(Article written 7/15)
Because I’m a bitter Mets fan, the first entry in the Mets Baseball Card of the Day will be a Lastings Milledge Rookie Card:
Milledge in my mind will always be the perfect example of the Mets prospect hype machine.
Anyway the card design comes from one of my favorite sets, Topps Turkey Red. The cards have a painted feel to them, with a rough surface, which is why the light is reflecting oddly in the image. It hides detail of the image, but gives the set a different feel than other sets. You’ll see more of the set later on.
For more information on this series.
(Article written 7/15)
July 16th will be the first installment of our “Mets Baseball Card of the Day” Series!
The goal of the series is really simple: share images of baseball cards that have some sort of meaning with Mets fans.
That means some of the players will be heroes, some of the players will be zeros. Some of the cards are beautiful, some will have you wondering what the designers were thinking.
However, I’m working off of a collections of cards I unearthed from about half a decade ago. If you have any cards, please send them to me at elliotteichman@gmail.com
If your card has not been featured yet, it will almost definitely will be. However it may take a while. At the bottom of each entry is the date when the entry was written, so if your card is added to next spot in the rotation, it may be a month, a few months, a year down the road, depending on how many days have entries (I will let you know after your submission a date and time when your card will be featured).
Back when the Two – Wild Card system for Major League Baseball was proposed, there wasn’t a lot of discussion about the consequence at the trade deadline, but now we are living it and discussing it.
The Wild Card spot allowed for a lot more teams to be buyers in July, and by adding a second Wild Card spot, a lot more teams are buyers. For example, with one Wild Card spot, would the Marlins be buyers? Maybe? Probably not. However now they are.
There’s another side to this as well. Well established division leaders are now buyers too. They were buyers in the past, but there is so much more incentive to be a buyer because the division leader gets an entire series in the playoff while the wild card teams have a sudden death play in.
So, naturally as baseball economics go, the price for rental players is going up. Seattle is a great example. Jason Vargas would not be demanding a high package from the Mariners if there was one wild card spot, but now that their our two spots and more buyers, the Mariners can demand more prospects. MLB Trade Rumors made note of this today when they said that the Orioles, Blue Jays, Pirates, Cardinals, and Tigers are all interested.
By comparison this would mean that a package for Garza or Greinke would cost a lot more, however how much more do teams have? I think it is safe to say that this new Wild Card system will drive the prices in trades for all players up, but will have more of an effect on trades for players like Vargas than Greinke.
Overall, in my opinion, this is good for baseball. It provides a new cushion of competitive balance. The last several years with the Astros and Phillies has almost been highway robbery with some of the players going into Philly and what the Astros got in return. Hopefully with this new system, a team like Houston would get a larger package or a package with a better set of returns to have a better shot of being competitive later on.