213 Miles From Shea

The Phillies have released their next set of probable pitchers and Pedro will be making a start in Citi on Sunday. The question now is what is the feeling in Queens going to be. Pedro is always an event and as Mets fans we love Pedro. As Mets fans, we do not love the Phillies. Its a key weekend series (or so it seemed “key” months ago) so its sold out (there is also a great giveaway of a model of Citi that day). As a side note, its also Jewish Heritage day.

And I am going to be there to. (My first trip to Citi).

So its only Thursday and the question is what is the reaction going to be. There are so many story lines going into the game. Personally I feel its going to be a confusing day. There are going to be a sizable amount of Phillies fans and we are going to want and probably will boo the Phils. But at the same time we are pretty much out of, at least, the division race and its the return of an old friend in Pedro. Of course he will be dressed in the garbs of the enemy.

Since returning to the majors this year Pedro has been effective and has mashed well with the pitching staff of the Phillies (and has cracked one or two jokes about himself and his age).

I don't know what brought this on. Maybe because I've been living in the mountains for the last 9 weeks with very little access to the “real world”. Or maybe this has been building for a while. Or maybe this comes from the commercials I've been seeing every inning tonight on MLBTV but I am starting to reach a point where I can't take the merchandise.

Its weird because all of the “this call to the bullpen is brought you by” does not bother me. In fact, I like it. It shows some culture from other aspects of life bonding with Baseball. If I watched the telecast 30 years from now, I feel like I could learn somethings about American culture and American life. The problems I am having is with MLB's promotion of itself (so maybe the title of this article is misleading). All of the mlb.com shop commercials are unnecessary. Part of that is the products are not needed. These commercials would not be so bad if it wasn't for that they make you feel that you need the product to be a fan.

Now I am not a sucker, so I am not going to be get drawn into buying a Mets Lamp to show my fanship (although I do have a lot Mets related items). These commercials are just getting a little obnoxious. These feelings get compounded with the NFL versions that have the mouse clicking through the items and then a voice yells “I want that”.  (The MLB shop commercial is nearly identical, just without that voice).

Writing this is not going to change anything though. Writing to them is not going to change anything. Its not like I can't live with it either. Its just an annoying fact about baseball. (Also, I would not even be thinking about this right now if the Mets were not currently losing 9 to 1).

The Mets take on the Braves in the second game of the set tonight behind starter Bobby Parnell. This is a big start for Parnell as he will probably get a higher pitch count tonight (predicted to be about 100 pitches), face a tougher lineup and do this all against a big divisional rival. On the season, he is 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA over 54.0 innings. In his last two starts he has a 1-1 record over 8.1 innings and a 2.16 ERA. He has pitched in 6 games against the Braves this year totalling 4 innings of work where he has allowed 5 hits and no earned runs. Here are some Braves hitting stats against Parnell:
     Norton 0-2
     Prado 2-4
     Escobar 1-3
     Infante 1-2
Parnell is basically the story to watch tonight and provides a reason to watch the game (other than watching the game because its the Mets and its a great way to spend an evening). He's young, he brings hope and he is fun to root for. Also, the Braves bats have been frustrated since the Mets 8 run output yesterday in one inning. Here's hoping that Parnell can keep that frustration going tonight.

In the other dugout, Jurrjens will be getting the nod tonight as he brings his 9-8 record, 2.99 ERA and 150 innings pitched this season into Citi tonight. In his last three games he has an 0-1 record over 16.1 innings and a 5.51 ERA (and these three games where against tough offense clubs: the Dodgers twice and the Phillies). Against the Mets this year he has a 1-0 record in two games, 13.2 innings, and an 1.32 ERA. Here are some stats the Mets have on Jurrjens:
     Castillo 1-7
     Murphy 1-7
     Pagan 0-6
     Reed 2-5
     Tatis 2-6
Yikes. Those numbers are not particularly great. The Mets offense went hit happy last night as they tallied 17 hits in the game and 9 runs (and ten hits and 8 runs in the same inning). Lets keep that hitting going tonight! Lets Go Mets!

The Mets finally reached an agreement with their second round pick from this years draft (which was their first pick overall), Steven Matz, basically just before the deadline. It seems the contract will pay Matz over 400K than is normal for that slot (which normally I would be slightly upset about but the Orioles just signed a few later round picks, like one player from the 10th and the 11th round for nearly a million dollars, so by comparison this is fine).

Matz is intrigiuing for a few reasons. First, he is young as he just graduated high school in Long Island. Second, he is from Long Island and his family and himself are all long time Mets fans. It is always nice having young players enter the system as Mets fans (think David Wright). This leads to another sense of optimism and pride for that player when he is on the field. Matz is really intriguing though because of his stuff. At his age his fastball is topping 94 mph and has a curveball and changeup well along in development. Criticism for him comes from his violent delivery which I'm sure will be looked at and talked about if the Mets orginzation thinks its going to be harmful for his career.

In a season where the Mets need as much optimism as they can get, prospects seem to be a great source of it. Lets Go Mets!

This season has offered many twists and turns thanks to the injuries to both the major league roster and some of the minor league rosters but one twist that I did not see coming at all this season would be the return of Anderson Hernandez. Lets take a little trip back in time to remember what Hernandez meant for the Mets. When he first started out he was pretty exciting.We got him in a 2005 trade from the Tigers for Vance Wilson. He was young, fast, and he could hit (debatable). Second base was a position that haunted Mets fans at that point since Reyes tried it out and got injured. We had Valetine and then it seemed we had a whole bunch of people before we got to Castillo.

Hernandez brought a lot of hope with him because of his winter ball. For several winter seasons he hit like he was the Ted Williams of winter ball. During the offseason when there are no new stats, his became something to watch and something to get excited about for next season. Well time and time again when the Mets used him in the regular season, he forgot how to hit and he started to become not just a disappointment but an enigma. Why can he hit so much better in winter ball than in regular season ball?

Well on August 20, 2008 the Mets office made a trade that sent the up and down Hernandez to the Nationals for Luis Ayala (The trade wasn't really made then, it was 8/20 when the Mets sent over Hernandez to complete the trade as a player to be named later). He played in the majors for the first time that year and he hit .333 in 81 bats. So far this year he is hitting .251. Both of these are the best that he has ever done in a season so far (with the Mets he hit .053 in a season and .153 and then in 07 he went 1-3 for the season).

Thus we start the next Anderson Hernandez chapter in a season that has seen a lot of strange things already.

Six games ago, the Mets basically seemed dead. We dropped series to the Braves and the Nationals among others and it just seemed like any hope we had on the season was quickly leaving our grasps like how sand leaves fingers. Well the Mets had a response with a five game winning streak with very few starters left on the roster. Suddenly, before last night, the Mets went from 7 games below .500 to 2 games below .500 (and now 3 games) which seems like a much more managable situation. (And of course keeps hopes alive for the playoffs, which is always nice).

I am not one of those fans that needs to make the playoffs in order to have fun. Generally as long as the Mets are playing my spirits are good. But between the injuries and the losing things were getting really depressing, and it was a type of depression I havn't associated with the Mets possibly ever (maybe its due to how the real world outside of baseball is pretty depressing right now and compounding factors of both are a lot to handle). However these five games have not only represented hope but also showed that the Mets, no matter who the field are a fun team to watch.

Switching gears slightly, on the SNY broadcast last night simply described why the Mets are the team to root for. They talked about how Stengal really established not only a mood for the first years of the Mets but really established the mood for the franchise which is “fun”. The Mets are more fun to root for than the Yankees. The Mets are more fun to root for than any team which is something good to remember during this season of hurdles for the Amazin's.

Here's an understatement: It has been a rough season for Mets fans.

We all need some activities to boost optimism in a time like this and one of the best solutions is minor league baseball. On one side, its great because you are down about the economy, its a lot cheaper than major league baseball. On the other side, if you are depressed about the New York Mets its great because you get to see the future play some ball….and by the way, the Cyclones are also in first place right now.

Anyway the Cyclones have a few great promotions coming up that are worth checking out. The first is August 3rd against the Renegades where Strawberry will be in attendance and if you are one of the first 2500 fans you will get a Strawberry Bobblehead (or a Strawbobble as they call it) with Straw in a Brooklyn Cyclones jersey.  If that is not your style then attend the game a few nights before that against the Staten Island Yankees where they will be giving out Green Irish Shirts.

The event that the Cyclones are most excited about takes place on August 16th where Lasorda returns to Brooklyn to be inducted into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame (in a pre-game ceremony). Fans can try to get to the game early to get a Screen Photo ball of Tommy and his life.

If you just want to go see baseball, check out some of the stats of Cyclones this year:
Fuller 1.75 ERA, 36 IP
Cohoon 2.48 ERA, 40 IP
Bouchard .408 BA
Servido 6 HR
Rivera .311 BA, 19 RBI

Brooklyn might be the place to be this year.

One player whose name is starting to get thrown around in conversations about Mets minors with good statistics is Josh Satin. Satin is mainly a second basemen (but can play the other bases as well) for the Savannah Sand Gnats at the age of 24. His stats this year look promising but there are a few other things that also have to be taken into consideration. The Mets drafted him in the 2008 draft in the 6th round. At that time, and still today, he is considered somewhat of a sleeper pick as his stats suggest:

2009- 87 G, 303 AB, 89 H, 21 2B, 4 HR, 42 RBI, .294 BA
2008- 48 G, 155 AB, 47 H, 12 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 15 RBI, .303 BA

And Some College stats:

Satin's Career Statistics
YEAR	AVG	G	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB
2004	.000	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
2005	.348	57	221	39	77	40	15	1	5	27	29	7
2006	.222	47	167	18	37	20	5	1	2	18	24	6
2007	.287	53	202	33	58	41	11	0	4	27	38	3
Total	.290	159	594	91	172	101	31	2	11	72	94	16

The question that comes with Satin is what to make of his age and ability, especially when comapared to the talent that he is playing with. He is older than most of his competition right now, which should give him an advantage and possibly inflate his stats, but its hard to figure out what to make of that inflation. He was also hitting well over .300 earlier this season, and he is starting to drop off a bit. He's an interesting player because he has skills but but where he plays puts a damper on them. Some say he could be an orginzational player type, which makes sense.

Its been a little over a week since I've been able to post and a couple of moves have been made that I wanted to comment on. The first being the Francoeur for Church trade. I know a lot of people have been commenting that this was a nothing trade, but I really like this trade for a few reasons. The first being that it was an old fashion one for one trade where both teams try to make their situations better by giving struggling players a new atmosphere to play in. The second is that the Mets have really nothing to lose in this trade. Although Francoeur has been struggling the last two seasons, he still has a tremendous upside, something that Church really doesn't have. Plus, when you consider the outfield the Braves have moving up the system, they probably aren't looking for Church to be an everyday starter. The main downside to this trade is that it isn't a blockbuster that is going to fix everything that is wrong with the Mets team currently, but honestly what would do that at this point.

The next signing is that of Pedro. Look, if he does good than the Phils look like they know what they are doing on and off the field but in reality I just can't believe he is going to be that good. This is a situation where he needs to pitch in a big league game for me to believe that he has it in him to be effective (in other words, I am not entirely convinced that the Phils even need him right now).

Ruben Tejada does not project to be a knockout, all star, but there are aspects of him that are very interesting, and one of the most intriguing pieces is his age. I had no idea until recently (this season) that during this baseball season he will be 19 years old. I thought he was much older than that (and really I have no idea why I thought he was much order than that). He first played for the Mets in the VESL and in the Gulf Coast League in 2007 when he was only 17 years old. The short stop was named the Mets best defensive infielder by Baseball America (12/19/2008) and Best Strike Zone Discipline (11/9/2007) (Since then, Corey Coles was named best strikezone discipline followed by Reese Haven, Coles was traded for Pagan).

Statistically speaking, his first year was very good as he had 78 hits in 241 AB (.324 BA), 9 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 41 RBI, 18 SB. The next season, 2008, he played for St. Lucie where he had 114 hits in 497 AB (.229 BA), 19 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 37 RBI. This past Spring he had 22 AB with the Mets team where he got 6 hits, a double and 4 RBI. So far this season he has played with the Binghamton Mets where he has 74 hits in 275 AB (.269 BA) with 13 2B, 3B, 2 HR, and 22 RBI.

 Its pretty incredible how fast Tejada has moved up the Mets farm system that in only three season he is playing fairly well in AA at the age of 19, which is a positive sign. Its hard to predict what the Mets will do with Tejada if he turns on a hot streak to finish off the season, or if he has a breakout season next year. He's a young player that has shown signs of success and people tend to like his defense. The mysteries with him are where is he going and what will the Mets do. He seems to be a player the Mets will watch next Spring or over the winter to try to determine his worth between being a New York Met or being a trade chip.