213 Miles From Shea

Some quick hits to go with your Monday Morning Coffee:

The Mets will attempt to do something fairly difficult today. They will try to sweep the Atlanta Braves. When I say difficult, its not a reference to the Braves as a team but to the general task of sweeping. Even during the regular season the team that is about to be swept comes to the ball park that day with a different attitude, a different focus. Being swept is demoralizing. That being said, the Mets will be sending out of the prominent Mets in the season so far in Mike Pelfrey to go against a strong pitcher in Tommy Hanson.

Pelfrey has been so prominent this season so far because he has had a piece in 4 of the Mets 9 victories this season. He has won all three starts (with a dazzling 0.86 ERA) and also saved the 20 inning marathon that may have sparked this Mets turn around. Today's game will be a great test for Big Pelf because the Braves team is one that he has historically struggled against. He has a 2-5 record and 6.09 ERA against them, and they have been able to put up these batting numbers:

The Mets as a team have done a good job keeping the Braves from scoring so far this series. Pelfrey has done a good job keeping players from scoring all season. Lets hope that trend continues. One trend that we all hope does not continue is the Mets ability to score early in games. In order to break that tendacy, the Mets will have to get Tommy Hanson, who is 1-1 on the season with a 2.81 ERA over 3 games and 16 innings. The Mets historically have these numbers against Hanson:

In the last few days we have seen Reyes, Bay and Francoeur start to hit again, albeit late in games. If they can start hitting early, and if Wright can start hitting again. Good things can happen tonight. Its another Nationally televised game for the Amazin's! Lets Go Mets!

The Mets have been featured in a positive light in New York back pages this morning as they finally reached .500 for the first time since April 9th:

(New York Post)

(NY Daily News)

Also, on the front cover of the News, the headline “Rey To Go” for Reyes' amazing catch. It's nice to see some positive energy.

The Mets beat the Braves in an afternoon game today, 3-1. This game meant a few things for the Mets:

The Mets got a good start from Niese today who did a good job handling the Braves bats. He was then relieved by some great bullpen pitching, which ended with Krod getting his third cosecutive save in as many games. The Mets for the most part looked very good in the field, topped off by some nice plays by Reyes. (and its great to see him play well).

The Mets also showed some speed today as Reyes got his third stolen base of the season, forced a bad throw, and got to third (and then would eventually score, which is so key in winning games). Blanco, yes Blanco, picked up a stolen base in today's game. It was his first stolen base in nine years.

On the hitting side, Bay had a great game today as he went 3-4, and Francoeur also joined in on the fun with a long double. Wright still struggled though, but at least he didn't struggle with Bay (which causes so many problems).

Overall, this was a good looking game and it looks like the Mets are really showing signs of life so far on this homestand. It would be fantastic to sweep the Braves tomorrow as it gives the Mets a foothold for a winning record. Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and the Braves play game two today as the Mets look to take the series today. Last night's game featured a redesigned lineup and whether that was the reason the Mets were hitting is yet to be determined, but they were getting a nice amount of hits last night. The core of the team was able to disrupt the Braves pitching (and defense) yesterday. On the other side of the ball, Takahashi froze the Braves hitters with his 7 K's over 3 innings and Niese looks to do the same today against Jurrjens.

Niese had a good outing last time out as he allowed 0 Earned Runs over 5.2 innings bringing his season totals to 16.2 innings pitched with a 4.32 ERA. Last year he faced the Braves once and it was a rough outing as he allowed 5 ER over 4.2 innings. The Braves have these numbers against Niese over his career:

Niese had some effecitve pitches in his last outing and showed poise and talent. If he can do that again, then he could have a very good day.

The Mets bats will have to contend with Jurrjens. Over 16.1 innings this season, he has posted a 6.06 ERA, which isn't typical for him. Last season he just blew through the Mets as he faced the Amazins five times with a 4-0 record over 33.2 innings pitched and a fantastic 1.60 ERA. The Mets have been able to put these numbers on him during his career:

The Mets really have struggled against Jair in the past. Hopefully they will be able to knock him around a bit and pull out another win. Lets Go Mets!

The Mets start their first series against the Braves this season tonight in Queens. The Braves are coming off of a two game losing streak and own a 8-7 record. The Mets are coming off of their first winning series of the season and have a 7-9 record. The pitching matchup tonight features Kawakami for the Braves and everyone's favorite reconstruction project, John Maine.

John Maine is coming off of a slightly better start where he allowed 3 earned runs over 5 innings. At the start of the game, his velocity was up (92) but started to drop off as the game went on. He actually was getting by until the fifth inning until he allowed a 3 run homer. However he had to work a lot during the game and walk a very thin line. It was though a performance that he could build off of. Last season he pitched one game against the Braves and it was a quality start as he allowed only 3 ER over 6 innings. The Braves have these numbers against Maine lifetime:

Maine's goal for the night is to keep the Mets in the game. If he can do that, and if the Mets can scrap together runs, then this will be a good game. Once again, like every start for Maine, this is important because he has been basically identified as the weak link in the Mets rotation.

To score runs the Mets will have to get to Kawakami. Kawakami has lost both of his starts this season with an 0-2 record and a 4.91 ERA. Last season he was pretty fantastic against the Mets as he had a 2.19 ERA over 5 games and 3 starts against the Mets. In his two seasons in the majors, the Mets have been able to compile these numbers against him:

The Mets bats were able to break the game open late yesterday and hopefully today they will be able to do it early in game. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Braves!

I try to not be cynical, but sometimes things are so clear that its hard not to be. The All-Star game, at least for position players, is a popularity contest. There is no way around it. This morning I received an email from MLB.com as a reminder that the All-Star Ballot went online this week, and that I need to go vote for the All Star Game.

Actually the exact wording was:

Get my players to the classic? Look I love the Mets but I'm not going to go vote for Luis Castillo for the All-Star game and at this point I'm not even voting for Bay. I guess the point I'm trying to get at is if the Ballot goes online in April, not even 20 games into the season, he can fans make an informed decision as to who the All-Stars will be midway through the season. At this point in the season, fans are still voting for players who have been projected to have big seasons.

This is also where the big market teams benefit. Not only is their fan base larger, generating more votes, but a larger fan base commands more National media coverage. So the small market fans are bombarded with coverage of players, who are good but may not be an All-Star compared to a player on a smaller team.

The MLB All-Star game is one of the best in sports. I just feel that it could be better if fan voting didn't start until the end of May, to at least have time for fans to shake off the preseason fantasy baseball blitz of the media hyping up certain players before they step on the field for 2010.

The Mets took the first two games of the series, the Cubs took the second. This final game is a big deal in the sense that it can become the first series the Mets win this season. The Mets will be sending their ace out on mound to try lock this game down while the Cubs will be sending out Gorzelanny, who is off to a good start for the season.

Santana rebounded from his bad start with a great start last Saturday. Percentage wise though, he ended up on pitching 35% of the game (which of course is a really stupid way of saying that he pitched the first 7 innings of the 20 inning marathon). Anyway on the season now he is 1-1 over 18.0 innings with a 3.00 ERA. The Cubs have been able to put up these numbers on him in the past:

The Mets bats will first have to deal with Gorzelanny who is off to a great start. Last year he was 4-2 with a 5.67 ERA over 38 innings. So far this season he is 0-1 over two games with an ERA of 1.93. The Mets have these numbers against him:

Wright was open yesterday after the game about his struggles recently at the plate. This team needs him and Bay to start hitting (or at least, not be in a slump at the same time). Lets Go Mets! Take the Series!

Sometimes the Mets front office fails in hilarious ways, and that was the case in the offseason between 2005 and 2006. Remember back in November 2005 the Mets were still flirting with the idea of trying to acquire Manny (oh wait, that could also apply to 2006-2009 as well). Anyway, during that time, some one in the PR department of the Mets decided to make an advertisement for Manny, while the Mets legally couldn't be discussing players (publicly). This was the result:

(NY Daily News)

The NY Daily News found this advertisement, that shouldn't have even been made let alone leaked. The Mets Front Office had to claim it explaining that this was done on the Graphic Designer's own time. Full Story here.

This was an internal concept when created. Player aside, I really like the look of this ad. The typeface makes it seem very “city” and the slogan “On The Rise” was correct for that time period. I would assume with the use of the word “Board” twice, this would have been on the subways.

The Cubs and Mets play game three of a four game set tonight at Citi Field. The Mets have now won two games in a row while the Cubs have now lost 4 in a row, and they turn to their best starter so far this season to stop the slide. The Mets will counter with Perez, who was stellar in his last outing.

Perez allowed 1 earned run over 6.1 innings in his last outing and really showed a lot of poise. He is the type of pitcher that can change at bat to at bat. Perez hasn't faced the Cubs since 2008 and back then he pitched in one game he took the no decision in 4.1 innings of work with 5 ER. The Cubs have been able to post these numbers against Perez over his career:

There is a feeling in the air that success on the mound is becoming contagious. Perez had a key start against the Cards on Friday and hopefully he will be able to do it again. He will benefit this time if the Mets bats can actually score some runs for him.

The Mets bats will have to deal with Silva who has been dealing so far this season (13.0 IP, 0.69 ERA, 2-0). Silva hasn't seen the Mets since 2007 where he picked up the loss in 6 innings of work as he gave up 4 earned runs. The Mets have been able to put these numbers on Silva over his career:

The Mets offense last night recieved its spark back in the form of Jose Reyes. The lineup can really use Wright and Francoeur to come back now though. They started off doing well, but now they slumped a bit. If they can come back and have a strong night, it can provide the backing Perez will need. Lets Go Mets! Take the Series!