213 Miles From Shea

We end Bison's week with more defense this time from new Met Luis Hernandez. Check it out!

The Mets and Phillies play the 4:00 game today as the Mets try to reverse their fortunes from last night. Mejia was not effective as the Phillies got to him early and it was enough to keep the Phillies winners in the box score. This afternoon the Mets will be sending out Mike Pelfrey (now with a 41-41 career record) to face Kyle Kendrick of the Phillies.

Pelfrey is still an enigma. After his last outing, his career record is now 41-41. That number is so fitting because that is what it feels like with in late 2010. There's a 50/50 chance of which Pelfrey shows up at the ball park. He is 1-2 in as many games against the Phillies this year as he has logged 18 innings of work while allowing 9 ER (4.50 ERA). The Phillies have these numbers on him:

The Mets will get a crack at Kyle Kendrick this afternoon who is 9-8 this season with a 4.89 ERA. He has made 4 starts since his good game against the Mets and in those four starts he has pitched only 20.2 innings with an ERA of 7.84. Kyle has played the Mets twice this season with a 1-1 record in which he has allowed 5 ER over 11.2 innings. The Mets have these numbers on him:

Lets Go Mets!

I love numbers. Makes sense, I am studying astrophysics at the University of Maryland. There are a few players I would like to see hit a few numbers by the end of the season, just to put a nice end to it, so the numbers look nice, neat, and strong for next season. There really is no point to hitting these numbers expect pride, and looking for something positive in something that gets increasingly negative:

After Dillon Gee's start this week, the first thing on my mind was “Man, I wish this kid could get more starts this season.” This thought came from the inevitability that unless someone was shut down, Gee would go to the pen, which would not be helpful in his development. Now by wondering this statement I assumed that maybe Niese would be shutdown for pitching an entire season.

Well I got what I wished for (maybe), and boy, do I need to be careful in the future.

It was announced today that Santana would have season ending surgery. Before I get to that, I am assuming (it is just an assumption right now until someone actually confirms it) that Gee would be replacing him in the rotation since Gee did it last time and the team doesn't have too many starters on it (that they at least want more looks at). So hopefully Gee gets the spot.

The next problem is what does this mean for Santana? This is three years in a row now that at the end of the season he has needed surgery. I don't want to put a “?” by his name because he is our ace. Our Mr. Dependable. Are we duping ourselves? Maybe. Are we (and if you are not in this group, don't include yourself, but I know I am in this group) reading too much into this? Probably.

Like in Politics, when the Economy is good, almost everything looks good. When its bad, everything looks bad. In baseball, when the team is winning, every other problem seems small and insignificant. When the team is losing, its feels like getting around small problems is like trying to drive across the Atlantic Ocean via the Ocean floor.

The Mets and Phillies open up a series tonight that does not mean anything (barring a miracle) for the Mets but means a lot for the Phillies. In case you have been shying away from the NL East standings to ward off depression, the Braves and the Phillies are separated by one game, with the Phillies in the lead. The Mets now have the opportunity to play spoiler. Anyway Roy Halladay will get the start tonight for the Phils as young Jenry Mejia will try to trip the Phils up.

Jenry Mejia was shakey in his first Major League start as he allowed 4 ER over 5 innings against the Cubs, and he looks to rebound tonight against the Phillies. On the season now he has thrown 32.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA. He has pitched 2 innings against the Phillies this year where he has allowed 0 ER, 0 R and only allowed 2 hits. The Phillies have these limited numbers against Jenry:

The Mets draw the Phillies ace for the first game of the set tonight. Halladay (who has already thrown 221 innings this year) has thrown 21 over his last three games and has an ERA of 4.29. He is 3-0 against the Mets this season in as many games as he has pitched 24 innings while allowing only 5 ER. The Mets have these numbers on Roy:

Lets Go Mets!

The animal! Chris Carter's ability to hit, and his attitude about hitting is what got him on the team. This is a video from April 30th where Chris just crushed one:

Well if you are tired of watching the Mets not make the playoffs, you should check out the Brooklyn Cyclones. Last night they clinched a spot in the NYPL Championship Series by beating Jamestown in the Semi-Final's round.

The Cyclones will now take on the Tri-City Valley Cats.

(Brooklyn Cyclones.com)

For more information, check out the official write up.

Captain Kirk! A player who has been rising all year for his bat also
has a glove as this video shows. Watch it and check out his great glove
on this great play (8/25):

Back in March of 2009, during Spring Training, here at 213 we took a look at Dillon Gee as a prospect. A couple of nights ago he continued his journey by making his Major League debut pitching 7 innings allowing one ER, two hits and getting an RBI hit in his first Major League AB.

How well did we predict his future? What else could be coming his way?

Well let's take a look:

A lot going on in the above quote. Things that were correct. Pelfrey was highly touted. Another item that was hinted at that remained correct (and was not a bold prediction) was that Niese would remain higher on the depth chart than Niese. Things that were not correct were Brad Holt (as he has started to fall off, but the book isn't closed on him yet). Let's take a look at more:

Well when that article was written, his ERA's remained fairly good, and it was before he had the injury in 2009 that caused things to go off for a period of time. His WHIP got a lot worst this year as it jumped from barely above 1, to up to 1.303 this past season. One thing that hasn't changed, which is why he got attention in the first place was his BB to K ratio as this year he walked 41 while striking out 165, which led the International League.

What we have learned about Gee is that he is a pitcher. I hope he gets to start again this season (which is up in the air) because it is fun to watch him mix his pitches. His ability to do that looks well beyond his 24 year old age as he has no problem throwing any of his offspeed stuff at any point in the count. Where he fits next year is still up in the air, but he's lookin pretty good right now, especially when so many other things around the team look so bad.