213 Miles From Shea

The Mets wrap up their three game set with an early afternoon rubber game with the Reds. Yesterday the Mets snapped their losing streak in style as Rod Barajas hit a go ahead solo shot in the top of the ninth. In today's match up, the Mets will turn Niese to win while the Reds will turn to Cueto.

Niese (1-1, 3.10) has become a threat over the last several games. He is starting to mix his pitches, complinting his devestating curveball with a nice cutter. Niese in his short career has never faced the Reds and has never faced any Reds batters, so he will be a complete mystery to them.

Cueto has a 1-1 record and a 5.33 ERA on the season and in the last three games he has the same record and a 5.63 ERA. He faced the Mets once last year and he allowed 4 ER in 5 IP. The Mets have these numbers on him throughout his career:

Some quick hits to go with your Wednesday morning Corona*:

* Happy Cinco De Mayo

(Mets Merized Online)

The Mets stopped their three game slide tonight thanks to Rod Barajas. Well its thanks to more than just Barajas but going into the 8th inning the Mets had a two run lead, which was then given up by Nieve. When it seemed like the Reds were getting momentum back, spurred by two quick outs by the Mets in the top of the ninth, Barajas took the the Reds deep and gave the Mets the go ahead run. Here are some observations from the game:

The Mets and the Reds play game two tonight as the Mets will turn to John Maine to stop the three game slide. Maine (1-1, 7.15 ERA) started to show some life in his last start as he went 6.0 innings, allowing 3 runs, 2 earned and striking out 9. He said that it was the wind that was giving his fastball some movement. Hopefully, he was being modest and he realizes that his talent had a lot to do with the movement on his pitches. The last time he faced the Reds was in 2008 where he allowed 5 ER over 4.2 innings. The Reds over time have these numbers on the Maine event:

The Mets batters will have to face Arroyo (1-2, 6.37 ERA) tonight. With the exception of his first start and his last start, Arroyo has struggled this season.  Last season Arroyo was effective against the Mets as he was 2-0 in as many games over 15.0 innings pitched with a 3.00 ERA. The Mets over time have been able to put up these numbers on Arroyo:

Lets Go Mets! Beat the Reds!

Last year all of the buzz was around starting pitcher Strasburg and this year the buzz should be around Bryce Harper. Harper first appeared in the National spotlight when he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was also called the Lebron James of baseball.  His numbers in high school were amazing and he decided to drop out of high school as a 16 year old, play in college for one year so he can be in the baseball draft one year earlier (and so he can face some tougher competition).

Harper is a left handed pitcher, but if drafted, will probably be used for his hitting abilities. He also plays catcher well and also plays the hot corner. It is important to note that once going to college, Harper has only recording an inning as a pitcher. People still reference him as a pitcher because of his ability to throw 96 mph heat.

Lets take a look at his statistics:

The question of course is whether he can do this is in the major leagues, and the can only be answered after he is drafted. It is going to take a big contract to sign him, so that might make some teams shy away. If the Nationals try, then they will have two of the most interesting prospects in their system. For the Mets, he could fall into their lap with the #5 pick. If that is the situation, unless there is a really good pitcher on the board, I think the Mets will have to roll the dice and take a risk with Harper.

Sports Illustrated Cover

All stats are from either the Wikipedia Page on Harper or his College website.

Some quick hits to go with your Tuesday morning Powdered Doughnut:

The Mets start another road season tonight as they go to Ohio to play the Reds. The Mets are fresh off two consecutive losses, and because symmetry is fun, the Reds are also coming off of two consecutive losses. Both the Mets and the Reds are coming off of series with a playoff contender (the Reds facing St. Louis) so both teams are looking to make a statement tonight.

The Mets tonight will send out Perez who was not effecitive in his last start going only 3.2 innings and allowing 3 ER. He just couldn't find himself out there, and hopefully he will be able to tonight. He is 0-2 on the season in 20.2 innings over 4 games with an ERA of 4.35. Last season he had an abysmal start against the Reds lasting only 4.1 innings and allowing 8 ER. The Reds over time have accumulated these numbers against Ollie:

The Mets bats will get another rookie tonight as they will face 22-year old Mike Leake. Leak is 2-0 over 4 games with a 3.25 this seaosn, and has been impressive. So far this seasons lefties are hitting .222 off of him and righties are having a lot more success at .264. Despite having a batting average 40 points lower, lefties have hit 2 homers off of Leake while righties have 0. The Mets bats in the past few games, with the exception of Saturday, have started to come around again as Wright and Barajas have flashed power. Reyes on the other hand is still figuring things out, and he has been public about being disapointed with his batting average. If he can turn things around, then hopefull the Mets bats can give Leake a rought night. Lets Go Mets!

A lot has happened in the last 3+ years since this site has gone online. In terms of website content, there have been a few articles that reoccur on a regular basis. These articles include Game Previews, Get To Know A Prospect and the newly added Mets Breakfast. One thing that hasn't happened is a major update to the way this website looks and feels. I am the start of a 4-6 week process (similar to Beltran's rehab time) of fixing up the look of this website. The basic structure of the website will stay the same, but its going to look a lot more appealing. I want to keep it a surprise though, so I'll give you a teaser of an image that will be incorporated in different ways on the website.

Get ready, the new logos are coming. I have finished 4 of an estimated 65-70 that I will need to re-make the website, and they look great. If you want to start seeing the logos before I release them here, you are going to have to become a fan of the website on Facebook, which you can do by clicking on the facebook link on the right side of the page.

Some quick hits to go with your Monday morning Pumpkin Juice*:

*Thank you to Logan Anbinder for today's breakfast food. Logan informed me that yesterday was Harry Potter Status day on facebook, and suggested a Harry Potter breakfast food. If you have a suggestion that matches a celebration or a holiday, please contact me at eteich@umd.edu.