213 Miles From Shea

The Mets and the Pirates play an afternoon game today as the Mets try to come back from their disappointing 3-2 loss yesterday and play like they did on Friday. The Mets will look on Chris Capuano to continue the streak of good starting pitching while the offense will look to tee off on Kevin Correia.

Capuano is 4-6 on the season with a 4.86 ERA. His last start against the Brewers was quite nice as he logged 6 innings allowing only one earned run. His start before that was not as nice as he allowed 5 ER over 6 innings of work against the Pirates, so hopefully he won't do that again today in Pittsburgh. The Bucs have the following numbers on Chris:

Cedeno 3-20, 2B, 3B

Diaz 6-13

Tabata 2-7, HR

Walker 2-7, 2B

Jones 1-6, 2B

Kevin Correia is 8-4 on the season and has a 3.64 ERA. In his last two starts he has allowed 6 ER in 11 innings of work which results in a 4.91 ERA. One of those starts was against the Mets where he allowed 2 ER over 6 innings. The Mets have posted the following numbers against Kevin:

Reyes 3-13, 3B

Beltran 4-9

Pagan 3-6

Murphy 3-9

Paulino 3-4

Let's Go Mets!

The Mets and Pirates play game two tonight as the Mets look to make it three in a row and look to get back at .500 tonight. Last night was a typical night for the Mets offense when they are on as they slapped a bunch of hits, moved runners over, and put runs on the board. As much as I would love to see this team knock some out of the park, the team right now is playing to its strengths with small ball with all of the heavier hitters out of the lineup. The offense looks to keep going tonight against James McDonald, and R.A. Dickey looks to give the Mets a strong performance like Gee was able to do last night.

Dickey is 3-6 on the season with a 4.04 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 24.1 innings (remember one start was only 2.2 innings, which is skewing the data) where he allowed only 5 ER thus posting an ERA of 1.85. His last start was one of the best of the season as he went 8.0 innings allowing only 1 ER and the start before that he posted 7.2 innings against the Pirates allowing only 3 ER. The Bucs have the following numbers on Robert Allen:

Overbay 1-10

McCutchen 2-6

Jones 2-7

Tabata 1-5, 2B

Cedeno 1-6

The Mets batters will get another look at James McDonald tonight who is 3-4 with a 4.97 ERA. He was quite good the last time he faced the Mets holding the Amazins to one run over 6 innings of work as the Pirates went on to win 5-1. James will be looking to bounce back from his last start where he allowed 3 ER in 4 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers on him:

Beltran 1-9

Pagan 4-9, 2 2B

Reyes 2-6, 2B

Bay 1-3

Murphy 2-3

Let's Go Mets!

The Mets and the Pirates start a four game series tonight in Pittsburgh as the Mets look to continue what they started in Milwaukee and bring it down to Pittsburgh. The Mets are coming off of a series win that could have easily been a sweep where the team is playing with a lot of grit and a lot of fight right now. Tonight, the rookie wonder Gee will get a start as he goes up against a success story this year in Charlie Morton.

Dillon Gee is 6-0 this season with a 3.33 ERA. His last start was brilliant as he tossed 7 scoreless frames against the Braves and his start before that was also good and it was against the Pirates as he pitched 7 innings allowing 3 earned runs. While his starts on the whole are not all lights out, his starts have been competitive, the Mets have had a chance to win with him on the mound. The Bucs have the following numbers against Dillon:

Cedeno 2-6

Jones 2-6

McCutchen 0-6

Tabata 1-6, 2B

The Mets will get to see Morton again. So far this season he is having an incredible bounce back year with his 2.52 ERA (compared to 7.57 from a year ago). In his last start he picked up the win in Philly with a 6 inning, 2 ER performance. Against the Mets he was a hard luck loser last time out as he allowed 3 runs, only one earned in 6 innings of work. However don't feel too bad because the Mets tagged him for 11 hits during those 6 innings. The Amazin's have the following numbers on Morton:

Pagan 5-6

Tejada 3-3

Thole 1-5

Beltran 1-3

Murphy 2-4

Let's Go Mets!

When I first saw Jon Harper's article in today's Daily News, I wasn't really sure what to think, but now reflecting on it, in a certain situation, I may agree with him. The gist of Harper's article is that a move that could save both the Mets and the Yankees is the Mets trading K-Rod to the Yankees. The Yankees will get their set-up man, something they need since Jobba is out, thus not activating K-Rod's money clause and the Mets will get rid of the 17.5 million vesting option, thus giving the organization no excuse for signing Reyes.

Here's the problem though, K-Rod has been the only stable point in the Mets pen this season. The Mets are only two games under .500 and it seems like if something breaks in our direction, we could go on a streak, thus we would need a closer to help try to make the playoffs. Trading K-Rod right now would essentially be throwing in the towel for the playoffs. If we trade him, then we might as well trade Beltran as well.

The second problem stems from the first problem, K-Rod has been quite good this season, and maybe he could be this good next season. He isn't worth 17.5 million, but a solid closer is something that is hard to part with. I am in the camp that believes with Castillo and Perez's contracts coming off of the books, this year, that the Mets should have enough money to extend Reyes (think about it, he is getting paid 11 million already this season, it isn't like he is going from a 2 million to 15 million pay increase, he is probably, realistically, looking at a 4 to 6 million dollar increase). This season 6 million is being paid to Castillo, I think that is a reasonable to transfer most of that to Reyes for next season. Trading K-Rod would also mean the Mets would have to go find a closer for next season, unless the Mets try to move someone internally to that position, and I don't think anyone is ready yet.

The only situation I agree with him, is if it becomes completely obvious that the Mets have no chance, at all, of making the playoffs. Going into this weekend, I say it is difficult to have that feeling.

So K-Rod to the Yankees would solve the money problems for the Mets, but would be throwing in the towel for this season, and could damage us next season. I think because it is uncertain right now if the Mets could make a run this season, I'm having a difficult time committing to the idea of trading or keeping K-Rod. I think we should have this conversation again a month from now, and see where we stand.

The Mets will try to put last night's disappointment behind them with a series victory today against the Brewers as Jon Niese gets the start against Yovani Gallardo. In case you didn't know, last night, down 2-1, the Mets bats put together a strong rally to put the boys from Queens up 6-2. However, the pen immediately gave the game back and the Mets ended up losing 7-6.

On the season Niese is 4-5 with a 3.75 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 26.0 innings with a 1.38 ERA. He has been really fantastic this season developing into a solid station in the Mets rotation. Last season he made one start against the Brew Crew and it was forgettable as he tossed 2.2 innings allowing 6 ER. The Brewers have the following numbers on Jon:

Morgan 4-8

Weeks 4-5, 2B, HR

Braun 1-3

Fielder 1-4

The Brewers will call on Gallardo tonight who is 8-2 (League Leader In Wins) with a 3.72 ERA. In his last 5 starts he has pitched 33.0 innings with a 1.64 ERA. So both pitchers today are on a hot streak going into the game tonight. Last season he was 1-0 in two starts and 12.1 innings of work against the Mets with an ERA of 5.11. The Mets have the following numbers on Yovani:

Reyes 5-10, 2 2B, 3B

Pagan 1-7

Beltran 1-3

Bay 1-8

Let's Go Mets!

The Mets play game two tonight against the Brewers. Last night the Mets beat the Brew Crew by the score of 2-1 as Capuano gave the Mets an excellent start and Beato, Izzy and Krod all gave an inning of re-insuring relief. A win tonight will make it 4 straight for the Amazin's as they continue their journey back to the .500 line. In tonight's game Pelfrey will get the start as he goes up against Randy Wolf.

Pelfrey is 3-4 this season with a 5.56 ERA. His last start was forgettable as he allowed 7 ER in the first 3 innings of work against the Pirates, before the Mets scored 9 unanswered runs and eventually took that game. He would finish that game with 2 additional scoreless innings and he looks to channel Pelf the Ace tonight in Milwaukee.Last season he made one start against the Brewers where he pitched 7.1 innings and allowed only 3 ER on his way to a no decision. The Brewers have the following numbers on Big Pelf:

Morgan 3-17

Nieves 3-14

Fielder 2-7, 2B

Hart 1-7, HR

Kotsay 0-6

Braun 1-3

The Mets batters will get a go at Randy Wolf tonight who is 4-4 on the season with a 3.69 ERA. He has been better than his season numbers in his last four starts where he has logged 24.2 innings with a 2.92 ERA. Last season against the Mets in two starts he pitched 12.0 innings allowed 4 ER (or a 3.00 ERA) where he received a no decision in each. The Mets have the following numbers on Wolf:

Reyes 11-39, 2B, 2 HR

Beltran 11-34, 4 2B, 3 HR

Hairston 4-13, 2 2B, HR

Bay 5-10, 3 2B, HR

Pagan 4-8, 2B

Let's Go Mets!

The final rounds of the MLB Draft happened today where teams are selecting their final 20 players for the 2011 MLB Draft. It is rare, but sometimes gems are found deep in the draft. If you want to see results from the first two days, click here. The following are the Mets 31st to 50th pick:

31. (942) Chad Zurcher – SS U Memphis

32. (972) Carlos Leyva – SS Cal St. Dominguez Hills

33. (1002) Tyson Seng – RHP U Oklahoma

34. (1032) Jacob Lugo – RHP Centenary College

35. (1062) Chasen Bradford – RHP U Central Florida

36. (1092) Ryan Hutson – 1B U Texas San Antonio

37. (1122) Craig Missigman – RHP Olympic High School

38. (1152) Dustin Emmons – RHP University of California Riverside

39. (1182) Charles Thurber – OF U Tennessee

40. (1212) Alexis Mercado – C Otay Ranch High School

41. (1242) Mark Picca – LHP U Texas Arlington

42. (1272) Gregory Pron – OF U West Florida

43. (1302) Jacob Decker – SS Piedmont High School

44. (1332) Clint Sharp – RHP Howard College

45. (1362) Andrew Marra – RHP St. Thomas of Villanova Secondary School

46. (1392) Richard Ruff – RHP Quincy U

47. (1422) Cole Limbaugh – RHP Childersburg High School

48. (1452) Malcom Clapsaddle – RHP Sante Fe CC

49. (1482) Sean Buckle – LHP Woodrow Wilson High School

50. (1512) Edward Rohan – C Winthrop U

And the Mr. Irrelevant for the baseball draft this year was pick number 1530 for the Philadelphia Phillies who drafted Kolya Stephenson, a RHP from Ocean City High School in NJ.

This week MLB released an update on All Star Ballot votes for the fan population portion of the game. This is generally when I like to to start looking at where the votes stand because players with unusually active April's drop off and it generally becomes clear at this point who is leading due to popularity, who is leading due being an amazing player and so forth. If the voting ended today, the starting lineup would be:

C – Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

1B – Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

2B – Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds

3B – Placido Polonco, Philadelphia Phillies

SS – Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

OF – Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

OF – Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals

OF – Lance Berkman, St. Louis Cardinals

The one above that really bothers me is SS. Jose Reyes is third, with 774,000 votes, about 11,000 votes behind Rollins who is in second, and about 700,000 votes behind Tulo. Reyes is close enough to Rollins that he'll eclipse him, but being behind him right now shows the popularity contest portion, which no is denying, of the vote, as Reyes leads the league in hitting. He'll make the All-Star team at this rate no doubt, it's just frustrating, but I already vented about this once this season, so I'll try not to do it again.

The Mets start a 10 game road trip tonight against the Brewers, as the Amazin's look to build off of their last two wins. Back on Sunday, the Mets beat the Braves in prime time by the score of 6-4, where Dickey gave the Mets a great start and the bullpen made things more exciting at the end of the game, but it was ok because the Mets ended with the win. Tonight Chris Capuano gets a start against his old team and goes up against Shaun Marcum.

Chris Capuano is 3-6 this season with a 5.19 ERA. He had a good run for essentially all of May with the exception of one start, but struggled in his last start in the beginning of June where he allowed 5 ER over 6 innings of work. I would provide some numbers about him vs his old team, but he was a member from 2004-2010, so his stats against the team as a whole may no longer be relevant. Here are some stats against the current players on the Brewers:

Counsell 3-6

Gomez 1-2, 2B

Kotsay 0-2

The Mets bats look to get a quick jump on Shaun Marcum tonight who is 6-2 this season with a 2.78 ERA. In his last three starts he has pitched 21.0 innings with a 3.43 ERA, which is mainly being influence by one bad start where he allowed 5 ER in 6 innings of work. Marcum, a former Blue Jay in his first season away from Toronto, has never faced the Mets in his career and very few Mets have numbers against him:

Bay 1-3

Hairston 1-3

Harris 0-1

Let's Go Mets!

The MLB draft is done with its first 30 rounds now and below is a list of the Mets picks from the 2011 Draft Class. Additional notes are hyper linked.

1. (13) Brandon Nimmo – OF Cheyenne East High School

1C. (44) Michael Fulmer – RHP Deer Creek High School

2. (71) Cory Mazzoni – RHP N.C. State

3. (101) Logan Verrett – RHP Baylor

4. (132) Tyler Pill – RHP Cal State Fullerton

5. (162) John Leathersich – LHP UMass Lowell

6. (192) Joe Tuschak – CF Northern Senior High School

7. (222) Cole Frenzel – 1B Arizona

8. (252) Daniel Muno – SS Fresno State

9. (282) Alexander Panteliodis – LHP Florida

10. (312) Matthew Budgell – RHP Woodbridge High School

11. (342) Christian Montgomery – RHP Lawrence Central HIgh School

12. (372) Kenny Mathews – LHP Diamond Bar High School

13. (402) Robert Gsellman – RHP Westchester High School

14. (432) Xorge Carrillo – C Arizona State

15. (462) Phillip Evans – SS La Costa Canyon High School

16. (492) Bradley Marquez – CF Odessa High School

17. (522) Jonathan Clark – CF Lee University

18. (552) Travis Taijeron – CF Cal Poly Pomona

19. (582) Dustin Lawley – CF University of West Florida

20. (612) Mason Robbins – CF George County High School

21. (642) John Gant – RHP Wiregrass Ranch High School

22. (672) Casey Turgeon – SS Dunedin High School

23. (702) Jeffrey Diehl – C Cranston High School West

24. (732) William Shepherd – 1B Texas

25. (762) Andrew Reed – LHP Terre Haute South Vigo High School

26. (792) Casey Hauptman – RHP University Nebraska Lincoln

27. (822) Randy Fontanez – RHP South Florida

28. (852) Jharel Cotton – RHP Miami Dade CC South

29. (882) Joshua Ake – SS Hunterdon Central Reg High School

30. (912) Jacob Hansen – LHP F.P. Walshe High School