213 Miles From Shea

The Mets put one in the books last night fighting through pesky Twins' hitters and capitalizing on defensive miscues. They look for another W today as that would mean taking another series from a strong AL Central ball club. The storyline which you have probably heard by now is this will be Johan's first start against his old club today as he looks to put his last start behind him and the Mets bats look to actually score some runs behind him.

Johan made one mistake in his last start, giving up a grandslam, which ended up being the only runs of the game. He has struggled of late, but overall on the season he has several streaks of just amazing play (his numbers are just held down basically by a handful of extraordinary poor innings). Anyway Johan is 5-4 with a 3.31 ERA on the season and in four starts in the month of June he is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA. There are only three batters on the roster that Santana has faced (Thome 6-31, 12 K; Hudson 4-16;  Young 3-6).

The Mets will deal with Pavano on other side of the rubber. Carl has had a pretty good season so far this year going 8-6 with a 3.64 ERA. He has been very effective in the month of June with a 3-1 record in as many starts recording a 2.90 ERA over 31.0 innings. He is coming off of one his best starts of the season where he pitched 9 innings and allowed one run. The Mets have put these numbers on Pavano over his career:

Lets Go Mets!

Some quick hits to go with your Saturday morning Frosted Mini-Wheats Big*:

*Seriously this is a real thing. The naming of this cereal is beyond me. If its a larger version of Frosted Mini-Wheats, then its just Frosted Wheat! The Mini gets canceled by the big!

The Twins come to down tonight as the Mets start a three game set against the team from the Twin Cities. The Twins are the number one team in the AL Central, although they are on slide right now as they have lost 3 in a row. A sub plot throughout the entire series will most likely not be on the field. These two teams are also the front-runners for Cliff Lee. Tonight's game will feature Big Pelf as he tries to get back on track as he takes on Kevin Slowey.

The Mets could use a Pelfrey start out of Pelfrey tonight to help take the opener of this series. On the season Pelfrey is 9-2 with a 2.69 ERA and in his 4 starts in the month of June he is 2-1 over 30 innings pitched with an ERA of 3.00 (mainly due to his last two starts). As common in most interleague games, Pelfrey has not faced the Twins in his career so the only batting history anyone has on Big Pelf is Hudson, who is 4-7. In his last two starts Pelfrey's fastball just hasn't had the movement it had earlier in the season. If he can get that movement back, that splitter becomes more effective and Pelfrey becomes the Pelfrey that has defined him as a rock in the rotation.

On the other side of the rubber is Kevin Slowey who is 7-4 on the season with a 4.58 ERA. He is 1-1 in the month of June pitching 20.1 innings with a 5.75 ERA. Like Pelfrey, his numbers from the start of the month are greatly different than his more recent starts. In the first two starts he pitched 14.0 innings while allowing an ER, and then in his last two starts he has pitched 6.1 innings while allowing 12 ER. There are only three Mets who have faced Kevin. Barajas is 1-6, Bay 1-3, and Franceour 2-3.

Lets Go Mets!

Here's to a player who has inspired Mets wins this year and Grizzly Bears everywhere, Robert Allen “R.A.” Dickey:

(via SBNation)

For as recognized for his unique pitching arsenal, Dickey has quickly become a fan favorite with an amazing story to his tenure with the Mets. One of the more recognizable aspects of Dickey's play is the face he makes as he throws the ball. Above he is smiling, other times he is yelling. If his above average (in terms of speed) knuckle doesn't make you buckle then maybe his face with fog you in a haze.

Uni Watch Blog has been on a mission to uncover the mystery of who created Mr. Met (the drawing). Part of the quest has led to a very old coloring book that has been uploaded online by Steven Presser. For fans like me who are a product of a later generation, our only introduction to this old style Mr. Met were the drawings on the old Shea ramp and exit signs. Anyway, the album, which can be found here, will keep your interest for a while. Here are some highlights:

Click on the link for more!

Some quick hits to go with your Friday morning Granny Smith Apples:

The Mets go for a series sweep tonight as the Mets play game three against Tigers tonight. The Mets offense took the spotlight during game one, and that spotlight shifted over the dazzling R.A. Dickey last night. Now the Mets look to get the bats going behind Takahashi in the series capper.

Takahashi (6-2, 3.13 ERA) takes the mound for the Amazin's as he looks to build off of the success from his last two starts. In those starts (against the major league worst Orioles and the major league best Yankees) Takahashi is 2-0 over 13.0 innings while allowing only one earned run (0.69 ERA) while striking out 5 and walking 3. If Takahashi can keep those last two games in mind, and replicate his calmness on the mound, thats exactly what the Mets need. Since he is a rookie, he has never faced the Tigers or any of their batters in his time in the majors.

The batters get a chance to take on one of the most talked about pitchers so far this season, Galarraga (for known reasons, not going to get into it here). On the season he is 7-6 with a 3.38 ERA. Over his last three games he is 3-0 while pitching 17.0 innings and allowing 8 ER (4.24 ERA). Because Armando has only pitched for three seasons, all in the American League, he has only faced two Mets batters. Barajas is 1-2 while Bay is 0-2.

Lets Go Mets!

Before this season there was talk about an crowded outfield as soon as the Mets signed Jason Bay. Of course back then, things looked different. The problem then was Bay moved Murphy to first base and then the outfield was filled out by Beltran and Francoeur. However, Fmart was coming up, and it wasn't clear (especially during Spring Training when Fmart was rolling) when Fmart would actually show up. If he came in 2010 (which was not a realistic possibility) there would be no spot for him. If he came up in 2011 (more realistic) then probably Francoeur would be the odd man out.

The situation then went into the opposite direction at the start of the 2010 campaign as it became obvious that Beltran would be out much longer than mid to late May. The question was if Pagan or GMJ could round it out in CF. The outfield went from being crowded to sparse. While GMJ struggled (and some how managed to still get playing time, bewildering) Pagan started to heat up. Now he is the only player in the Mets lineup actually hitting above .300 and he has 35 RBI's (more than Bay, Reyes, Davis, etc). With Francoeur now heating up, raising his BA from .200 something to .275 in the past month, and Bay making a good amount of money, the Mets find themselves with an interesting question:

With Beltran returning in 20 days (knock on wood) where does he fit? If he is hitting, he is one of the best players in the game.

This problem is shaping up to look like its going to be a rotation isssue. Or will be at least for the first few weeks as Bay, Beltran, Francoeur and Pagan will probably shuffle around in the OF, probably based on who's playing second base or who's catching (ie, different substitutions in other positions impact which offensive pieces they will need from OF). The other “logical” option is well Francoeur gets benched. However, when he is in the zone, he is in the zone and needs to be in that lineup. Also, his prescence alone causes third base coaches to hold up those stop signs at 3B. Thats a huge assest. The Mets would also be in dangerous territory again with two CF. Communication hasn't been one of our stronger suits over the last few seasons.

Pagan's hitting, defense, and overall ability presents another problem for the Mets. Remember that old crowded outfield problem? Well now its Bay, Francoeur, Beltran, Pagan, and Fmart (and maybe Carter and Murphy, but not really). The offseason could be interesting for the Mets now because they have 5 peices to plug into three positions.

To me personally, the decision would be to have Bay, Francoeur and Beltran rotate while keeping Pagan in CF the entire time. He has become very valuable in the number 2 spot, and it would really hurt to remove him.

Dickey stars on the back of the Daily News:

(NY Daily News)

Some quick hits to go with your Thursday morning Maple Frosted Mini Wheats: