213 Miles From Shea

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!

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.

The Mets will try to salvage the final game of the series today in Atlanta as Johan Santana takes the hill against Ben Sheets. Santana is 6-5 on the season with a 3.24 ERA over 17 games and 102.2 innings of work. Johan’s last outing was a rough one where he ultimately allowed 7 ER over 4.2 innings of work while having another play step on his calf while Santana was covering first base. Johan’s two starts against the Braves were very different games. He opened his season throwing 5.0 innings of shutout ball against them, and then two starts later allowed 4 ER over 1.1 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Santana:

Diaz 18-35, 4 2B, HR
McCann 8-32, 2B, 3 HR
Chipper 7-27, HR
Prado 4-22, 2B
Uggla 1-21, HR
Bourn 5-16
Heyward 2-12

You didn’t go back in time today, Ben Sheets is actually pitching. Sheets will be making his first start since 201o when he went 4-9 over 20 starts and 119.1 innings with a 4.53 ERA for the Oakland Athletics. He made two starts in AA to prepare for 2012. In those two starts he pitched 10.1 innings and allowed 6 ER. In his career he has made 8 starts over 47.1 innings against the Mets with a 4-2 record and a 4.56 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers on Sheets:

Wright 4-9, 2B, HR
Torres 2-6, 2B
Murphy 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to move beyond yesterday’s disappointing start to the second half by sending out Robert Allen Dickey the All Star. Yesterday the Mets quickly fell into a 5-0 hole, battled back to 5-4, fell back 7-4 and then ended at 7-5. Hopefully the first game allowed the Mets to shake off the All Star break rust as they take on Tommy Hanson.

Dickey is 12-1 on the season over 17 starts and 120 innings of work with a 2.40 ERA. He has struggled in two of his last three starts, allowed 5 runs in each of those starts, but normal Dickey fashion, they sandwich an 8 inning no run performance and were preceded by back to back one hitters. He has pitched 10.1 innings against the Braves this year allowing 10 ER. (His only terrible start was in Atlanta way back in April). The Braves have the following numbers against Dickey:

Bourn 8-25, 2B, 3B
Uggla 1-25, HR
Prado 4-23, 2B, HR
Hinske 3-20, 2 2B
McCann 3-17, HR
Chipper 4-8, 2B, HR

Hanson is 10-5 on the season over 18 starts and 106.1 innings of work with a 3.71 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 25.1 innings with an ERA of 4.97. In two starts against the Mets this season he has pitched 12.0 innings while allowed 6 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Tommy:

Wright 4-22, 2 2B
Thole 9-21, 2B, HR
Davis 3-15, 2B, HR
Tejada 1-11, 2B
Murphy 5-11, 2 2B
Turner 2-3, 2 HR
Duda 3-11, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

After the World’s longest All-Star break, the Mets finally get back to action tonight as they take on the Atlanta Braves in the south. Tonight, Chris Young will be taking on Tim Hudson. Chris Young is 2-2 on the season over 6 starts and a 3.41 ERA over 37.0 innings of work. In his career he has made only 5 starts against the Braves where he has a 2-2 record and a 7.50 ERA. The Braves have the following numbers against Chris Young:

Chipper 5-9, 2 HR
McCann 0-7
Uggla 2-6, 3B
Wilson 0-5
Hinske 0-5
Bourn 0-2
Diaz 2-2

Tim Hudson on the season has a record of 7-4 over 13 starts and 86.0 innings of work with a 3.56 ERA. Over his last 6 starts he has pitched 41.0 innings with a 4-2 record and a 2.41 ERA. Believe it or not, this is Hudson’s first start against the Mets this season. Last year he made five starts against the Mets over 29.1 innings with a 2-3 record and a 3.68 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Hudson:

Wright 13-62, 2B, 2 HR
Duda 4-16, 2B
Cedeno 2-11, 3B
Thole 3-12
Davis 2-9, 2B
Tejada 6-11, 2B
Murphy 3-10
Let’s Go Mets!

Happy Let’s All Be Superstitious Day For No Scientific Reason!

What do all these players have in common?

Edgardo Alfonzo
Billy Wagner
Lee Mazzilli
Mike Nickeas (via 2011, not 2012)